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German football club FC Schalke 04 has purchased a spot in the EU LCS from Elements according to the eSports Observer.
According to multiple sources” the deal will be confirmed next week with Elements selling their place in the league to the football club after failing to do so before the Spring Split. After a disappointing run in 2015 team owner Jacob "Maelk" Toft-Andersen failed to sell the team during the off season and was forced to field a squad for the 2016 LCS Spring Split, where Elements ended up in 7th place.
If the deal goes through Schalke would be the first sports team to have a squad in the LCS, despite many former sports stars investing in the growing eSports scene in recent years. As one of the top sides in the German Bundesliga, currently sitting in 7th, Schalke will have little trouble affording the high prices of an LCS team and could easily acquire some of the best players in the world as a result.
While Schalke would be the first sports team to enter the LCS they would not be the first to enter eSports, as fellow Bundesliga team VFL Wolfsburg and more recently West Ham United have both signed FIFA players.
