“What we want, beyond the sport, is to create a cultural movement”

With its entrance planted in the middle of the Spot shopping center in Evry-Courcouronnes (Essonne), it is difficult to spot the stadium. One clue, however: to celebrate the debut of the Karmine Corp (KC) club in its “Arènes de l’agora” on Friday evening, September 20, the supporters made the walls tremble. The volcano erupted to salute this first in France and Europe: an e-sports club finally has its own hall. Like a football or rugby club, the video game team will play there in front of its audience about ten times a year, at least until 2029.

“Here, there is everything there is in football, and even more,” Amine Mekri, known as “Prime”, 31, assures us to show us around the place. A former high-level American football athlete, the co-founder of Karmine Corp has taken the attention to detail within his 3,000-seat stadium, to the point of setting up changing rooms for his players, with jerseys hanging on the wall, “the same as mine in division 1 in Canada, when I was at university”. “But beyond the players, I also wanted us to do things well for the fans: the match starts at 7 p.m., the ultras meet at noon, and we talk with them.”Prime continues.What we want, more than sport, is to create a cultural movement.”supports the one who has more than 1.6 million subscribers on YouTube.

The fervor that gravitates around “la Karmine” is quickly heard when, two hours before kick-off, the first chants cross the walls of “l’Agora”. Outside, still in the queue, fans of Prime and Kameto (co-founder of “KC”) sing their first “to arms”, like a Velodrome that pushes its OM players. There are just over 2,000 of them physically present in the Paris region, and an average of 40,000 following the match live on Kameto’s Twitch channel. To the left of the stands, the ultras of the “Blue Wall” are warming up, with their scarves, jerseys and navy blue flags, then the lights go out.

From football chants to e-sports sauce

Amidst the cheers of the audience, streamer Kameto enters the stage and begins to thank people. He is quickly interrupted by the fans, who twist the rancid slogan “we are at home” to celebrate their stadium, under the proud gaze of the team boss. At the same time in the stands, a large tifo in the colors of Karmine is deployed. While the players of Gameward, the club that will play “away” during this Coupe de France match of League of Legends, As they take their places on stage in front of their computers, the KC e-sportsmen are treated to a welcome worthy of rock stars, boxers or NBA basketball players, with personalized chants and checks to the fans we met along the way.

“We’ve been waiting for years to have a place of our own,” “Iceez” – many call themselves after the pseudonym they use online – explains 25, who travelled from Strasbourg for the occasion. “Here, I can meet up with all my friends, with whom we travel all the time, even abroad,” enthuses the Blue Wall member. A fan of streamers Prime and Kameto, he has been following the KC since its beginnings in 2020 and claims to be like any ultra. According to him, the difference between sports supporters and e-sports enthusiasts lies mainly in the lack of geographical anchoring of the structures gaming : if a Strasbourg resident will easily follow the Racing Club de Strasbourg in football, it was until now difficult to fully support his e-sports team at home.

“Relaying ultra culture” in e-sport

So why follow one team more than another? For its key personalities, but also for “they are DNA”according to Alex, 24. The one from the KC? The “banter“, equivalent to trashtalk in the NBA, that is, the sense of tackling and joking against opposing teams, and a certain spirit of self-mockery. This is evidenced by the chants in which the Blue Wall supporters describe themselves “animals” to the tune of the theme songIntervilles, or the “we’re bored” sung during the few minutes of breaks due to technical problems during the evening.

For “Unnamed”, kapo (person at the head of an ultra group) of the Blue Wall, “The idea is to take what works in sport and throw away the rest.”. The one who is also a member of the PSG ultras, wearing the blue “KCorp” jersey with his nickname on his back, says he draws inspiration from what he observes at the Parc des Princes to start the chants and communicate with the KC fans, of whom he has been a member for three years now. With two objectives: “relaying ultra culture” within an e-sport which still lacks experience in the matter, and “to be the best kapo in France” in the middle.

And for one evening at least, the bet seemed to have paid off on stage and in the stands. After three hours of play, Karmine Corp won handily to the chants of the supporters. Ilyes, 26, and Anaïs, 27, came together and they are categorical: they were not prepared for such an atmosphere.I was a little afraid of getting bored.”admits the one who, despite her baseball-style shirt stamped Karmine, is not by her own admission “not very video game”and started watching them from afar to take an interest in her boyfriend’s passion. “Now I’m a fan of 113 (KC player, editor’s note).”