It is no secret that the world’s top footballers love to play video games. Earlier this season, Barcelona’s French superstar Ousmane Dembele was reprimanded by the club due to his late-night gaming and Netflix parties with friends.
While Dembele’s gaming has got out of hand, teammates like Lionel Messi and Manchester City star Sergio Aguero have their video game playing under control. Thanks to the popularity of gaming as a way to relax and unwind, one Dutch footballer has become a thriving entrepreneur.
Building a better footballer gaming experience
Any footballer that has gone on trips or to away games in which they have to stay overnight for one or more days, knows there can be a lot of downtime. Hotels can be brutal for footballers with nothing to do and more than one player has got himself or herself into trouble getting up to mischief.
Kai Heerings, a defender for Dutch club Fortuna Sittard, developed the JZ Design Game Case to reduce the boring downtime he had experienced as a player. The case comes with a portable monitor built-in which allows users to plug in an Xbox or PlayStation 3 to play on the go.
It isn’t just top footballers who are using the JZ Design Case. Formula One superstar Max Verstappen travels with his case wherever he goes to relax from the stress and pressure of his profession.
How was the JZ Design Game Case created?
Heerings and brother-in-law Jens van Zonneveld came up with the idea in 2015. The duo was travelling on a bus to an away game and had nothing to do to pass the time. They devised the idea and quickly invested money into the project.
The JZ Design Game Case was conceived during that trip and after the first prototype was unveiled at a training camp, word spread quickly to players around the Netherlands. Not only did Heerings’ teammates want one, but so did players at many of the clubs around the Eredivisie.
JZ Design Game Case isn’t just thriving thanks to professional footballers. EA Sports, the makers of the popular FIFA videogame franchise, has partnered with the company and receives specially made game cases.
The company makes their cases at a manufacturing plant in the Netherlands and ships them to professional athletes from all over the globe.
Heerings’ and co-owner Van Zonneveld’s creation shows there are other ways for footballers to thrive. While neither will probably make it to a Champions League Final on the pitch, their JZ Design Game Case will entertain players as they prepare for the UEFA showpiece game.