The Case for an eSports Olympic Event

Every four years, the Olympic Games bring sports fans from around the world together. Whether lucky enough to attend a live event or simply watch from home, millions engage with the games. It’s a popular time for bettors to pursue those free bet offers available on sites such as oddschecker, while others will stick to fantasy leagues that cover various Olympic sports.

Not only is it a chance for sports fans to see how their nation stacks up against others in various events, but it’s also an ideal time to check out new and intriguing sports. For example, not many US football fans are aware of ski jumping—but they’re likely to tune in if it’s on the Olympic schedule.

The same goes for other fringe sports, including track and field, which sees a meteoric rise in coverage each Summer Olympics, and horse events like dressage and show jumping. But there’s one huge caveat when it comes to the Olympics: not all popular sports are included in the lineup. 

This rings especially true for sports like cricket, which has millions of followers across the globe. From the West Indies to India to Australia, cricket is one of the most popular and organized professional sports. The same goes for auto racing like Formula One racing, MMA fighting bouts, and horseracing. 

Recently, eSports have also been listed on the roster of sports that have yet to prove their worth to the International Olympic Committee. And like the other sports listed above, eSports face huge hurdles before they appear in the official Olympic Games.

The IOC Process

The Olympic Charter upheld by the IOC is straightforward in its criteria for eligible sports. First, at least 75 countries must participate in the sport and on four continents for men. Second, the sport must be active in at least 40 countries and on three continents for women. 

Since the IOC finalized its charter in 1896, it has added over 100 events. Clearly, there’s no gatekeeping—just an emphasis on global popularity and even participation from men and women. Formula One racing, for example, is likely to remain out of the IOC’s purview for its lack of female competitors. 

The IOC also looks out for international governing bodies that strengthen regulations attached to a sport. This includes anti-doping codes, standardized competition tests, and aspects like national rankings. Lastly, the IOC must quantify that a sport requires athleticism through skills such as hand-eye coordination.

 A ‘Road Map’ for eSports

Perusing the basic requirements above, eSports should seem like a likely candidate. It may be loosely considered a physical sport based on the quick reflexes and decision-making needed. Meanwhile, the formation of international regulatory bodies like the International e-Sport Federation (IeSF) and national regulatory bodies like the UK’s eSports Integrity Coalition (ESIC) has lent stability to the growing sport.

eSports also hit the requirement for participation. It’s one of few sports that doesn’t include a men’s and women’s category. Instead, men and women compete on the same level. While there’s a noticeable surplus of male competitors compared to female gamers, and the top 300 highest paid eSports earners are men, female competitors are active on many teams.

And the competitions are only growing in size. Last year, over 11,000 competitors from over 95 countries faced off in Street Fighter V and Rocket League (neither of which are eSports’ most important or popular games). The prize pool reached $500,000 and attracted over 300,000 viewers on Twitch. 

The event was the Intel World Open esports tournament… and it was hosted in Tokyo two days before the start of the Tokyo 2020 Olympics. It’s part of what the IOC is calling a road map for eSports in the Olympics.

Who Needs Who?

The push to onboard eSports into the Olympics isn’t necessarily on the agenda for top eSports athletes on teams such as NRG and Fnatic. Instead, the Olympics will need eSports in order to stay in touch with its younger viewers. In fact, the IOC recently added an eSports and gaming liaison group to help bridge relationships. 

While some have also pointed out that eSports is a billion-dollar industry, the IOC isn’t necessarily going to take a cut of that pie. (Once again, Formula One is a good example of why big money isn’t a primary motivator.) Instead, it comes down to numbers; interest in eSports is rising, while Olympics viewership is decreasing, according to Digital Trends. 

The aforementioned Intel World Open highlights a smaller-scale venture that was centered around the Olympics coverage. However, other tournaments are much larger. According to a Newzoo study, there will be 240 million casual eSports viewers this year. By the next Olympic Games in 2024, that could be closer to 600 million.

For context, the Tokyo Olympics drew in only 16 million US viewers, according to NBC ratings. In the end, eSports may see an expedited launch by the IOC in order to leverage younger fans who are showing greater interest in virtual eSports than live sports events. So far, the IOC has announced the launch of a Virtual Olympic Series and eSports medal events at the 2022 Asian Games.

And it all points back to one of the lesser-known requirements in the IOC charter: that a sport must deliver ‘value and appeal’ to the Olympic Games.

Tokyo Debuts for Surfing, Skateboarding, & Rock Climbing

In the future, the 2020 Tokyo Olympics may be viewed as a pivotal shift for certain games. While eSports received a nod in the form of the Intel Open World competition, other sports that have fought for representation also saw their first iterations.

These sports include surfing, skateboarding, and rock climbing. All three saw huge interest from viewers, some of whom set alarms at odd hours to watch events like the women’s shortboard, men’s street skateboarding, and bouldering and speed climbing. 

The addition of skateboarding, in particular, has helped boost the Olympics’ popularity—and vice versa. The ‘extreme sport’ is still a relatively new quantity worldwide, with most events springing up in the 1990s. It highlights how even newborn sports can find their place in the Olympics, hinting that the future of eSports and the IOC is bright.