The outbreak of the world pandemic corona virus has affected the sports industry hard and fast.

Be it clubs or athletes, who suddenly found their income being dried up, matches and tournaments being postponed or cancelled, sports broadcasters and media organisations struggling to fill air time and print media as well as fans being affected by the lack of live sports.

While the traditional form of sports had to be temporarily suspended or cancelled, not least due to social distancing measures that have come into force, esports has seen a drastic rise in its demand and following.

Esports is a sports competition that takes the form of video games; organised, multiplayer video game competitions, particularly between professional players, individually or teams.

While the concept of esports has been around for some time, it was only in the late 2000s that esports became a multi-million pound industry, with millions eagerly following and participating in such type of sports competition across the globe.

Venues which traditionally host contact sport were being used for thousands to watch a player flicking a remote control.   

Esports too was not immune to the unprecedented effects brought about by the COVID-19 outbreak.

Major tournaments had to be cancelled for safety reasons, and venues serving as team headquarters and competition venues remained shut.

However, due to the concept of esports being digital in its core, such sport saw a huge increase in its online presence.

In fact, it is estimated that 53% of competitions held in venues switched online. To the contrary of traditional sports which requires physical contact, esports does not require physical contact between players and neither requires players to be physically present in the same country.

User online hours were on the increase as well as traffic reported on major esports sites. Steaming sites such as Youtube also increased their interest to start broadcasting live esports tournaments.

A contributing party towards this sudden rise in the popularity of esports was due to traditional sports looking towards esports as a saving grace from the COVID-19 impacts brought about to their sports.

Major sports organisations and teams switched their focus and efforts to an online presence to try and continue engaging with their audience as much as possible. 

Formula 1 launched its first ever Virtual Grand Prix Series which will run in place of every postponed Grand Prix race in order to enable fans to continue watching Formula 1 races virtually and give current drivers the chance to still ‘race’.

The Japanese Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry has taken it upon itself to partner up with leading companies in the gaming industry as well as with legal experts to draw up guidelines to promote esports in a video-game dominated country, which will hopefully move away from its current legal restrictions to the development of esports in such jurisdiction.

The Japanese Ministry has reportedly set a revenue target of €2.4 billion to be reached by 2025.

Just like other football leagues across the globe, the English Premier League organised its own esports tournament, featuring fans and players representing major clubs playing FIFA 20, with the prize fund donated to the NHS.

With a surge in esports popularity and following as well as the fact that traditional sports have come to a complete halt, the esports industry now finds itself in the limelight with respect to gambling. 

Gambling

Research agency 2CV and market researcher ProdegeMR have estimated that gambling in the esports sector is set to double from €6.5 billion in 2019 to €14 billion in 2020.

Owing to this potential, the Malta Gaming Authority has issued a notice on COVID-19 and Sports Integrity which warns betting operators about the risks involved and to safeguard the integrity of such events.

While esports cannot replace traditional sports such as the Olympics or the English Premier League, it has the necessary platform to utilise staff as well as portray sports talent without exposing anyone to health risks.

Having esports televised or available to watch online will provide some much-needed sports content for broadcasters and fans alike, as well as offer new sponsorship alternatives to sponsors.

Esports serves to provide some financial relief to organisers, players and teams as well as maintain some brand exposure in these difficult times being faced.

In these difficult times, esports’ differences must be turned to the strength of the whole sports industry.