SK Gaming are partnering with soccer franchise FC Köln, the team announced on Twitter Wednesday.

We are incredibly excited to announce our strategic partnership with Bundesliga club @fckoeln. Head over to our website for more information! https://t.co/Dha7FEJsFv #effzeh #RUNSKG pic.twitter.com/joZSrhVx7f — SK Gaming (@SKGaming) January 31, 2018

SK made the the semifinals this past weekend at the ELEAGUE Boston Major with Joao "felps" Vasconcellos standing in for their newest addition, Ricardo "boltz" Prass.

"We think the team put up a strong performance with a stand in and lost to an extremely well performing and deserving champion," said Jan Dominicus, a spokesperson for SK Gaming in a written statement. "We were able to secure our legend spot and even managed to reach the Top 4. We were very satisfied and thankful for felps standing in. The next events we will be back to full strength and hope to bring some more trophies home."

Dominicus also said that in comparison to other partnerships like this, where a sports franchise is making the jump to gaming, this is "a very authentic step into the gaming world. The club genuinely wants to learn about the space and will involve the whole team in the project."

"We as SK Gaming on the other hand, will be able to provide even better conditions to our players," said Alexander Müller, SK's managing director, in a written statement. "For example in Boston we had some exhausting days with over 6 hours on stage. Its days like this that make a healthy and balanced life even more important to perform at the highest level. We hope to to secure an edge in that area, ahead of other esports teams."

FC Köln participate in the Bundesliga, Germany's premier soccer league. The teams did not release any financial details about the relationship.

Keith Capstick is a news editor for theScore esports. You can follow him on Twitter.