Ex-Arsenal football star Bendtner launches esports company

Former Arsenal striker Nicklas Bendtner, also known as ‘Lord Bendtner’, has launched his own esports company, called Prosapia Esport ApS, to help develop young talent.

Danish media outlet Finans reports that Bendtner’s personal holding company has recently founded a company called Prosapia Esport ApS, where the former Arsenal striker is registered as CEO.

According to the company’s register, it aims to “develop young people for sports events in esport with a view to developing talent in the esports environment.”

This is not the first time that Bendtner has been associated with esports and gaming. In his reality show ‘Bendtner & Philine’, which aired on Discovery+, the Dane spoke with reverence about esports’ potential as a form of competition and business opportunity.

“I have no doubt that, within 10-20 years, esports will be one of the biggest sports in the world, if not the biggest,” Bendtner is quoted by Dust2.dk as saying. “It would be stupid of me not to go in and invest in it in a relatively early process where you can still be involved without having to spend really, really big money.”

In 2018, Bendtner posted an Instagram story of him watching an IEM Katowice CS:GO match between FaZe Clan and Fnatic. “CS on DR3,” he wrote, referencing the Danish TV channel that was broadcasting the series.

Bendtner began his professional career at the age of 16 at Arsenal, scoring 34 goals in 108 Premier League games for the club. After leaving the ‘Gunners’ in 2014, he played for Wolfsburg, Nottingham Forest, Rosenborg and Copenhagen before retiring from football in 2019. While representing the Denmark national team, he scored 30 goals in 81 appearances.