Manchester United Football Club and Fnatic have entered a bidding war, with both organizations looking to sign the same Overwatch team, according to a report by eSports News UK's Dom Sacco.

According to the report, both organizations are looking to sign an already-sponsored Overwatch roster. Manchester United approached the team first, leading Fnatic to make a counter-offer and Manchester United to make their own counter-offer. The report also states that a third, unnamed organization is interested in the team but Manchester United is "unfazed" by the other offers.

Manchester United is a Premier League soccer team, and have won 20 league titles, 12 FA cups, three European Cups, one Intercontinental Cup and a FIFA Club World Cup, making them among the most successful teams in British soccer. Manchester is also one of the most valuable soccer teams in the world, valued at $1.2 billion by Brand Finance in 2015.

Fnatic is among the most successful organizations in esports, with five European League of Legends Championship Series titles, and two Counter-Strike: Global Offensive Major Championship titles. Fnatic currently fields teams in LoL, CS:GO, Dota 2, Heroes of the Storm, SMITE and Battlefield.

Manchester United would not be the first major soccer brand to get involved in esports. German soccer team FC Schalke 04 recently signed the EU LCS roster formerly known as Elements, Valencia CF signed four Hearthstone players and West Ham United has signed a FIFA 16 player.

http://www.thescoreesports.com/news/8370-report-manchester-united-in-bidding-war-with-fnatic-over-overwatch-team

Well, it'll give publicity for eSports at least, that's for sure.

Billboards and e-sports logos for certain.

Stupid real sports trying to meddle with our fake sports.

Interesting that these clubs see eSports as a worthwhile investment. There is pretty decent prize money for top performing teams, but there will need to be a lot more exposure and sponsorships for big sporting clubs not to mostly be having to put money into the teams. One possible benefit is that clubs like Man U may not be willing to accept Twitch and Youtube  as the only way to watch games and they might start seriously pushing for TV coverage.

Soccer clubs really should be getting into Rocket League.

it is also good for United to expand its audience to youngsters to know about Manchester United. so it is still a win-win for them.