Is It Too Expensive to Be Good at FIFA?

There are a lot of excellent FIFA players in the world, but there are only a few who can afford to compete as a professional.

At January's FUT Champions Cup—a staple of the FIFA esports calendar—players were using teams with a real-world value of approximately $27,000, per FUT Economist. Qualifiers for this competition had to rank among the best in the world using their own teams and home setup, even though every player on the game became available for those who made it to the live tournament.

If you strip back the high production values, lavish venues and spectacle, it's obvious the competitive scene is laced with barriers that halt many players who have the potential to play FIFA for a…