Berlin, February 18th 2023 – The well-known German fan-club “Roaring Bears” have created an officially registered entity to expand their support for BIG. Today, the Roaring Bears and BIG met in Berlin to issue a joint statement to support a positive, diverse and tolerant esports fan culture.
By registering in the Berlin Register of Associations, the Roaring Bears have reached a significant milestone in the history of both BIG and the fan club, establishing themselves as an official entity. In the future, the Roaring Bears will play a large role in organizing fan activities in Germany and Europe, while BIG will support them in these initiatives as a loyal partner.
Over the course of the past few years, the Roaring Bears have already shown the world their level of support at numerous events, most memorably with their fan march at IEM Cologne 2022. Their support transcends specific titles, as they have organized fan outings to cheer for our players at League of Legends and Tekken events as well. Through these events, they have gained popularity in the esports world as one of the few organized fan clubs.
As an important first step, the two parties have issued a joint statement where they outlined their mutual values and commitments. While the Roaring Bears will function as an autonomous, independent entity, they will be committed to upholding a positive and tolerant fan culture, and speak out against all forms of hate, racism and discrimination. BIG will establish a Fan Relations department through which it will support the development of both the Roaring Bears and other BIG fan clubs. The two parties will meet face to face on a semi-annual basis for mutual exchange of feedback and planning.
Statement Andreas Wolny, Head of Fan Relations at BIG
Our declaration today with the Roaring Bears as a fan club underlines our shared commitment and understanding of values for a positive, diverse and tolerant Esports fan culture. We believe that it is essential to have an environment where every individual is treated with respect and openness. We condemn hate, racism and discrimination in any form and are committed to ensuring that they have no place in our community.
In this context, we are very pleased to sincerely congratulate the Roaring Bears on the successful establishment of their registered fan-club association. We believe that supporting and promoting the independence and autonomy of fan clubs can make an important contribution to creating a positive and diverse esports fan culture.
Statement Steffen Urmoneit, President of Roaring Bears
This declaration comes from the very core of what we represent. We want an esport that stands for equality, openness and respect – values that we represent both online and offline. Despite all the rivalry and words on social media, our goal is to establish a fan culture in esports that distances itself from violence, negativity and exclusion. Together with BIG, we have captured this here today.
What started as an idea in 2019, we now want to take to the next level. As a registered association, we want to work even harder for esports and its recognition by the public. As far as we know, no fan group in esport has yet embarked on this path. With the e.V. we want to unite fans and create unique experiences with them.
We are looking forward to the next weeks and months and thank BIG for their support during this process.
