During a special press conference held at Zalgirio arena Zalgiris Kaunas basketball club has announced, that Zalgiris franchise will be entering the esports market and will establish Hearthstone, League of Legends and Counter Strike: Global Offensive teams.
During his speech, club director Paulius Motiejunas said that the creation of a new esports division is a natural next step in order to keep up with the innovations shaking up current sports world and expressed his hopes that Zalgiris name will soon be known among the esports fans in addition to the basketball community.
“The power of esports allows to reach the youngest audiences. This industry is rapidly growing and Zalgiris is happy to join the ranks. Zalgiris is a household name in basketball and we want to elevate Lithuanian esports’ impact in the international stage” – said Mr Motiejunas, the club director.
The new esports team will be constructed with well-known Baltics esports organizations “Gameplay DNA” and “Baltic Elite”. The new team will be called “Zalgiris” and has plans to compete in Counter Strike: Global Offensive, League of Legends and Heartshtone disciplines.
Initial season goals of the newly established Zalgiris Esports team is to claim the trophies of the two biggest esports competitions in the Baltics – InfoShow and GameOn 2018. Furthermore, Zalgiris has plans to compete in the international tournaments such as ESEA, BESL and Dreamhack to establish their footing in an esports world and reach their ultimate goal – qualifying for major esports leagues and tournaments.
Basketball club Zalgiris is a professional basketball team that is based in Kaunas, Lithuania. Its basketball team recently qualified to the EuroLeague playoffs. Founded in 1944, it is one of the oldest basketball clubs in Europe.