Their pitch is a virtual one. Minute details such as blades of grass glisten while thousands of fans cheer on the action with maniacal fervor. For several Kansas club lacrosse players and fellow classmates, the games’ outcomes have financial implications — or in other instances, a shot of liquor (or six) must be taken.

More importantly, the FIFA soccer video game series has opened gamers’ eyes to a world in which football as we know it shrivels in the shadow of international soccer, and to a sport that they would have otherwise remained apathetic toward.

“If not for FIFA we wouldn’t give a shit about soccer,” Ryan Mattie, Overland Park junior, said. “Before FIFA, I didn’t think of soccer as a sport.”

For Mattie — a lacrosse goalie — his love of FIFA was born in high school, playing with fellow lacrosse teammates and developing his awareness of soccer in the process. It was that newfound interest in the sport — fueled by the video game and the electricity of the 2006 World Cup — that grew into a regular occurrence among friends and recently catalyzed their current FIFA “league” where, for $5, competitors can choose a team to play as and compete as they would in any international league, with the winner taking all.

This first go-around has surprised Mattie — who plays as German club Werder Bremen — in how many players the tournament attracted, and he plans on establishing a second $5-per-head pot for the championship leg of the season in addition to holding these digital seasons once a semester with a “World Cup” held each spring break.

Comprised of roughly half lacrosse players, roommates, relatives and friends, the league follows the table concept instituted by international soccer in which each team plays one another four times — twice at home and twice away — with the standings charted on a large dry erase board in Mattie’s living room.

Fellow teammate Mike Blackman, Overland Park sophomore, is in third place, with Mattie in first, and agrees with the notion that the video game and their subsequent league has done wonders in giving him incentive to follow the team he chose, Juventus of the Italian Serie A, and the actual league, not to mention a sport relatively low on the United States’ sporting spectrum.

“It’s more interesting playing with the FIFA league,” Mattie said. “The sport has become more relevant to us, and I follow various leagues now. I’ve also developed a hatred toward the Italian Serie A.”

With games being held in various apartments and on a number of consoles, the league calls in each game and meticulously documents the results. On occasion, a player who lives out of town visits and knocks out all of his games in marathon succession.

The game itself often does its best to capture the intensity of an actual match overseas. The cash on the line further stokes the madness. While Blackman admits to spouting his fair share of pleasantries through the course of a match, Mattie recently was involved in a contest so heated it culminated in him grabbing a bag and throwing it across the room, shattering its contents.

Feeding the intensity of their gatherings, another FIFA innovation was born: DRFIFA, or Drunk FIFA. Competitors will take a shot when they are scored on, two shots for a red card, one for a yellow card and one after a loss. Recentlym Mattie and a friend departed with three bottles of liquor when they staged a best two-of-three contest, one game going to overtime, rife with penalties.

With so many games played during the course of their season, Mattie and Blackman have noticed a growth in the virtual soccer skills of themselves and fellow contestants, while also a greater knowledge of the technicalities of the game.

As a sport noticeably different than the mainstream diversions most Americans are accustomed to, soccer can easily be dismissed as a pathetic back and forth contest featuring attempts to score on an abnormally large goal. These thoughts were shared by Mattie, Blackman and no doubt a number of their peers, but that consensus has been replaced with a newfound knowledge of the game. The seeds of a bit of a passion have been planted and — with the FIFA tournaments — a new tradition amongst friends was created.

It’s fantasy futbol to the extent where you control the outcome. Whether you leave smashed or with a surplus of cash, this interpretation on the video game series is one example of an unconventional, yet efficient, gateway to broadening one’s sports repertoire.

— - Edited by Kelsey Hayes