After more than two years, the plan has indeed succeeded. The then-active German influencer HandOfBlood had founded an e-sports team in November 2021 in League of Legends : Eintracht Spandau. After a few lean years in LoL, it has now succeeded with the championship in the German Prime League, although it didn’t look like it for a long time. The original plan could only be partially implemented; in the end, stars were needed.
This was the plan:
- In November 2021, HandOfBlood announced that he was founding a team in LoL and would enter directly into the highest German league, the Prime League.
- The plan was to find and develop players so that fans can identify with the team. Other LoL teams would constantly swap players and staff around the team, making it difficult to build a bond. They wanted to do it differently.
- The club was also to be complemented by streamers and influencers. HandOfBlood promised: “The content quality and strategy will be insane. We want to shake up the scene”.
In November 2021, MeinMMO editor Alexander Leitsch wrote: Many German fans hoped that the German midlaner “PowerOfEvil” would switch to Eintracht Spandau , but he was actually overqualified for the regional league.
Eintracht Spandau: Great atmosphere, but the big success was missing
Here’s how it really went: The project “Eintracht Spandau” went well, but not optimally:
In terms of sports, the team was indeed successful but tended to lose important matches, which increasingly bothered HandOfBlood. At the end of a season, they usually ended up in 2nd or 3rd place, but there was “the cup to drink from” missing.
The strategy of going through influencers actually worked out completely. The team was present on social media, was able to excite many fans, even with HandOfBlood in the role of difficult team president Knabe.
Time and again, HandOfBlood staged scandals around the egomaniacal character “President Knabe” who became the villain in the story of “Eintracht Spandau,” wasted money senselessly, lost control in interviews, or berated the fans. The viewers loved the spectacle around “the president”.
Even the competition had to admit that Eintracht Spandau became the flagship of the Prime League, while other teams faced significant financial problems. A team from Berlin was even forcibly relegated from the league in September 2022. It could not sustain itself financially.
The idea of running Eintracht Spandau like a football club excited the fans. But the plan to get 5 players and hold onto them ultimately failed due to sporting realities, as the team had to admit over time.
Eintracht Spandau signs the best players on the market before the season
This was the current season: After some disappointments, Eintracht Spandau increasingly turned away from the plan to develop their own players.
Before the current spring season, Eintracht put together pretty much the best team that could be had in the Prime League. Of the 5 players with whom Eintracht Spandau started in 2021, none are left in the team today.
In fact, two years after the fans had already wanted it, they were able to sign PowerOfEvil, a man with international level. Eintracht Spandau also strengthened itself well in other positions and signed the player who became the league’s MVP in the summer of 2023: Johannes “fun K3y” Werner.
Weak season with outstanding finale
The season went quite bumpy despite the strong squad: Eintracht Spandau finished fifth in the regular season with 11-7 and had to start the playoffs in the loser’s bracket.
However, they fought their way through the four better-placed teams and were able to beat SK in the finale.
Eintracht Spandau celebrates the victory with a parade through Spandau
This is how Eintracht celebrated: As can be seen in the video by HandOfBlood, the fans celebrated the victory of their Eintracht exuberantly in Berlin.
Even “the guy who usually always complains” kept quiet this time, says HandOfBlood.
What are the reactions? The Twitch streamer NoWay, who usually likes to mock Eintracht for buying their place in the Prime League, congratulates them impressed. The run was incredible. The team had improved from series to series.
He is looking forward to the Masters.
At Eintracht itself, they are again having a celebration day on social media, although they don’t need a special occasion for that. The atmosphere there is always good.
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