It’s no secret that FIFA 19 is happening. Not only because of the obvious reason which is that the FIFA franchise releases a title annually but also because of a recent leak from Walmart Canada. What we didn’t know though is that Champions League and Europa League will be playable in the upcoming title.
Football commentator Evert Ten Napel “spilled out the beans” last Friday, during the eTribune live program on Fox Sports. Ten Napel has in fact made known that “in FIFA 2019 the matches will be even better because the Champions League and the Europa League will join the other existing licenses”. Ten Napel has been commenting on FIFA games for years meaning that his statement is probably legit.
The Champions League and Europa League rights will remain in the hands of Konami until 26 May for Pro Evolution Soccer. Konami and the European football association UEFA announced in April that their cooperation is coming to an end so after that the road is open for the FIFA franchise to be grabbing that sweet collaboration. This released the rights for the Champions League and Europa League.
FIFA obtaining the Champions League and Europa League rights is a huge step for the franchise even if their use is minimal. On Pro Evolution Soccer the use of both leagues has enhanced the experience gave a special kind of prestige to the franchise itself. Let’s hope that will be the case for FIFA 19 too if the partnering between Electronic Arts and the European football association UEFA finally goes through.
Electronic Arts still hasn’t made an official statement about the matter, however, during their latest financial briefing, they stated that there’s more news for the franchise coming in the future. It’s pretty soon for the company to share news about FIFA 19 since it’s supposed to release in more than 6 months but the future looks bright for virtual football right now.
