The new eSerie A TIM 2021 is started

With four group and 17 teams, the eSerie A TIM, the official Serie A eSports championship and recognized by Electronic Arts, began on March 9. On Monday, March 8, the final calendar was announced and in one day the first day of the first two group, the first two group, the One A and the B, was already played, with the races broadcast on the Twitch and YouTube channels of aSerie A. The groups are divided into A (with Inter, Lazio, Fiorentina and Atalanta), B (Cagliari, Genoa, Sampdoria, Spezia, Benevento), C (Hellas Verona, Crotone, Sassuolo, Udinese) and D (Milan, Torino, Parma, Bologna). The clubs present (as the participating teams are called) are the official ones of the Serie A clubs of which they bear the name (their eSports section) and the gamers are under contract and dress the merch of the club to which they belong. 

The top eSports league in Serie A began last year with the 2020 edition and was always in collaboration with EA Sports - for example, the Italian national eSports team participates in international competitions that are played on Konami's Pro Evolution Soccer. For example, BeSports, the eSpors serie B championship is also played on PES, and as the equivalent of the top category was inaugurated last year: organized with the support of MKERS and A.C.M.E., the 20 teams of the cadet tournament participate in it and the 2021 edition and the start of the 2021 edition is scheduled in the coming months.  

How it works

The matches are played on PlayStation 4 and is organized by Lega Nazionale Professionisti Serie A (LNPA) together with Infront Italia and Personal Game Srl. The game mode is that of FIFA 21 and stadiums, avatars and playability are those of this edition. The tournament consists of five stages, including two pre-finals and three finals. At the beginning, online qualifiers take place, with four different qualifier cups in which participants compete in single matches and enter the final stages. For each qualifier there are 8 finalists for a total of 32 future pro players, who will enter the next stage, the draft, where the companies will have to choose at least one player from all the finalists. The order of choice will be determined by the Draft Lottery - a random draw system. 

The final stages will start with the regular season, consisting of 4 group stages with italian-language matches played. At the end of the group, the playoffs will be made, divided into Winner Bracket and Loser Bracket. The first three qualifiers of the group will enter, in the other the fourth and fifth (Group C is the only one with a fifth company). Next, you get to the final stage of the tournament, the Final Eight, so, through double challenges gone and back: the 4 loser bracket winners will compete with each other and so the 4 remaining of the Winner Bracket (only the modes change, since there will be a single challenge for the Losers and round trip with cumulative result for the Winners). Only one team will emerge from each group, which will challenge the other in a final that will be accompanied by a double comparison and with cumulative result.  To manage and supervise the progress of the tournament are the tournament officials, charged with enforcing the regulations and also monitoring the contractual relations between the company and the gamer. 

The team 

Each team's roster consists of at least two gamers up to a maximum of three, one of which must necessarily come from the Draft stage. Team gamers must be declared at the beginning of the championship and must all have Italian residency, although the Pro Player(s) chosen by the company may also be of another nationality. The minimum age to play is 16 years and you must have a Playstation Network account, a valid Playstation Plus subscription and an active FUT account. 

The official challenges of the eSerie A 2021 are played with the real FIFA teams, so AC Milan gamers will use Pioli's players (who, among other things, will have a special aesthetic since the Rossoneri club, like Inter, has opened a partnership with EA Sports for FIFA 21); Manol Neto (MNETO77), Pedro Resende (PRESENDE97) and Richard Renato Romeo (RRICH97) will also be able to manage the tactics of Lukaku and Barella as they wish. But not only that. The teams are fut teams and gamers will be able to compose their team at will, choosing gold or silver players or icons, building the formation they want. In practice, it is no wonder that platini and Maldini or Cristiano Ronaldo are still on the pitch with Inter.

It is very curious that Juventus and AS Roma are not among all the teams, but the reason is purely commercial. The Bianconeri and Giallorossa have signed an exclusive partnerhsip agreement with KONAMI for Pro Evolution Soccer. Lazio has also signed an agreement with the Japanese gaming company, but not having granted exclusivity, wrote its esports company also to the eSerie A championship.