The League of Legends team of German Youtuber Maximilian “HandOfBlood” Knabe is a phenomenon. Already in their second split, they have created a unique fan culture.

Sure, the big eSports teams in the world like G2, Fnatic or Liquid have fans. But do these fans also meet weekly in a regular pub to watch the team’s games? Is there a real fan culture there?

When the eSports project “Eintracht Spandau” of the agencies Instinct3 and Jung von Matt Nerd started, the mission was clear: You want sporting success, but above all you want a strong community.

After an initial split, which went fantastically well both in terms of sports and media, Eintracht Spandau is a unique phenomenon in the eSports world.

Within a very short period of time, various fan groups emerged to cheer on and accompany Eintracht full of verve. The center of the story: the regular pub, the Spandauer Bock.

Offline instead of twitch stream

It is also clear that eSports is primarily a digital story. Accordingly, the majority of fans follow Eintracht Spandau’s games via the Internet, within their own four walls. However, a growing fan base that lives in Berlin or Spandau itself now meets regularly at the traditional “Spandauer Bock” pub.

This was defined from the very beginning as the heart of Eintracht Spandau’s history. This is where the “long-time fans of the traditional club” meet to watch the games of their favorite club.

Even though the fan community was part of the concept of the two agencies behind Eintracht Spandau from the very beginning, a momentum established itself that was probably not foreseeable in this way. It is no longer clear how many Eintracht fan clubs actually exist.

This shows: eSports fans also just want to be fans. Cheering on their players, identifying with their club, celebrating successes and enduring defeats.

This is facilitated primarily by the fact that Eintracht Spandau is clearly focused on one game and one region, and supporters do not have to follow any results from countless regions, as is the case with most eSports organizations. Eintracht requires the same attention from fans as traditional sports clubs that their parents were fans of.

In simplicity lies genius

This unique dynamic in the eSports world cannot be duplicated even by city rival BIG, which has been in the eSports business much longer. Although Maximilian “President Hänno” Knabe regularly incorporates BIG players into storytelling strands, the effect is quite different.

BIG as a large organization with a wide variety of teams and games has to cover and accompany a correspondingly large number of venues, so the League of Legends team will never get the same support as the Spandau guys.

Spandau fans were able to get to know their players over the course of the last split, building a relationship with them. The fact that the complete roster is back for the summer split is essential for success in the community. The fact that there are also regular celebrations to go along with the good sporting performance makes being a fan even easier.

At the moment Spandau is one of the top teams in the Prime League, unfortunately they lost the derby against BIG. The summer split lasts until the end of July.

That makes Bock

While eSports organizations worry about being able to cover as many current games as possible with a team, Eintracht Spandau sticks to what they know. With success.

After barely seven months of existence, Eintracht already has five sponsors from a wide variety of sectors, a large, loyal, and loud fan base, unique entertainment that goes beyond Summoners Rift, and a very bright future ahead.