Do the Futures of Esports and the Olympics Go Hand-in-Hand?

Esports at the Olympics – it’s a funny thought. After all, for a long while now, there’s been a debate about whether people competing in video games deserve the title of athletes in the first place. Sure, on the surface level, the physical demands don’t even appear comparable to people who physically hone their bodies to compete at the pinnacle of worldwide competition, but it’s not as dissimilar as some might expect either.

Consider what actually goes into competing at a top level. Both mirror each other in terms of training requirements. To be the best at anything requires an immense investment of time, and when you look at pros across every esports title, that’s a consistent factor. No matter what they’re playing, they’re spending hours each day scrimming, reviewing footage, having analysts and coaches review footage of upcoming opponents… it’s hard to say it sounds entirely different to what you might expect out of the likes of an Olympic soccer team.

And then of course, there is the discussion of physical demand. Sure, it’s usually a lot more specific with esports, involving fine motor skills, impeccable reflexes and great hand-eye coordination, but are those not things that should also be celebrated, and can be quantified on a player versus player level? After all, the skills required to be good at javelin aren’t the same as the those required to be good at the 400 metre freestyle, but both represent great measures of human physical accomplishment. 

So, this begs the question of whether esports deserves its place at the Olympics. Whether or not it will happen isn’t up for debate – we saw the inaugural Olympic Esports Week in Singapore last year, and it seems pretty clear the IOC wants to move in this direction considering its decision to partner with the National Olympic Committee of Saudi Arabia for the first official Olympic Esports Games, which will be hosted in 2025 and occur regularly over the next 12 years. However, what will this future look like, and what are the implications for marketers? And should these be viewed on the same stage as traditional sports activities? These are the questions on the tip of a lot of marketer’s tongues these days, and ones which deserve a deep dive.

It goes without saying that to market well, one must understand the landscape they’re working within. So, what could actually be expected from the Olympic esports? According to Max Bass, director of emerging connections at GALE, it’s very different from what gen z has come to appreciate. 

“Virtual sports are a different category than celebrating the expertise and talent many gamers have in the most popular games in the world, like ‘Counter-Strike: Global Offensive’ (CS:GO), ‘League of Legends’ (LoL), ‘DOTA’, and more,” he explains. “This is not to say that the virtual sports in the Olympics don’t require skill and talent, but the event will not capture the attention of millions of passionate esports fans around the world in the way that the biggest stars of the WNBA and NBA have done with the ‘Dream Team’.”

However, that’s not to say there isn’t an audience for this sort of event. David Brown, executive creative director at adam&eveDDB New York, believes this stepping off point is very necessary for broader implementation. Sure, bigger events have been promised, but both the industry and community as a whole still need to get comfortable with this concept… even if it looks dramatically different from what traditional fans know and love. 

“While esports purists might disagree,” he continues, “if the industry can gain Olympic-sized exposure every four years by focusing on mobile archery or virtual regattas instead of LoL and CS:GO, I’m sure they’ll deem it a worthwhile sacrifice.“

This is especially true given the fact that the event itself needs young people watching in order to succeed. And, considering that viewership has continued to decline yearly since 2012, it probably won’t be long before both ends meet somewhere in the middle. After all, as David points out, just this year, the Olympics added breakdancing, and in 2020, they introduced surfing and skateboarding, all while the winter games keep adding new extreme sports or versions of more traditional sports like snowboard big air.

“I think it’s exciting,” he adds. “For me, the beauty of the Olympics comes from the niche sports. I very much look forward to getting intensely invested in Team USA’s ‘Just Dance’ medal hopes the same way I did for Team USA men’s curling in 2018.”

He isn’t alone in this opinion, either. Not only are niche sports fun, but as Milan Kendall-Shah, senior strategist at Wolff Olins observes, esports are already equipped with all the necessary tools to gain audience popularity: patriotism, excellence, and legacy.

On this first point, he observes that when both esports and traditional sports are played on a global stage, there will always be the allure of backing one’s country, community and culture. “Particularly in Asia and the Middle East, many countries have fast-emerging national heroes becoming synonymous with specific esports, resonating with younger, ‘everyday’ people in a way that mainstream sports stars could only hope for,” he says. 

It’s hard to argue the likelihood of this happening with Olympic esports as well. Even if the games are different, in the same way a young fan might become enthralled by a player’s ability while watching the likes of Blizzard’s ‘Overwatch World Cup’ at Blizzcon, it’s not hard to imagine fans of virtual sports experiencing something similar. After all, excellence is excellence, per Milan’s second point. When people perform at the pinnacle of their discipline and put their skills to the ultimate test, it’s hard not to engage. And, as he points out, one must only consider the esports endurance marathons which have pushed the limits of human focus, or the way in which young underdogs have shown veterans new tricks to see why online games have transcended what spectators thought possible. 

But, this will take time. If Milan’s third point is ‘legacy’, then it must be recognised that this simply can’t be established overnight. “It needs to be built incrementally through records, traditions, and myth-making events,” he notes. “There is no cheat code; it takes time. But esports is sowing the seeds for this, with vast financial rewards changing hands at the click of a keyboard, and vintage games making a comeback in ‘big bang’ launches to hoards of eagerly waiting fans. If guided by the right insights, the future is potentially very bright for esports, and the role of the Olympics within it.”

Despite all the upsides on paper, there are still a lot of kinks that need ironing out before this becomes a serious endeavour. While some countries have the budget to invest within this sphere - again, see Saudi Arabia, which is also presently running the first ‘Esports World Cup’ in Riyadh - matters like travel, broadcasting systems, and even the financial upsides of esports remain shrouded with uncertainties. 

“The business of esports is still unproven,” Max argues. “Not every organisation is profitable, despite competitive success and fanbases. Over the past couple of years, we’ve seen consolidation, business pivots, layoffs, and lots of mentions of an ‘esports winter’ regarding sponsorship dollars. Major games have seen viewership plateau or decline, and the up-and-to-the-right audience trajectory that some anticipated during and coming out of covid-19 has not materialised in a consistent way.”

Not only this, but the fact that these new Olympic gaming competitions won’t travel to various locations (while the Summer and Winter Games do) creates some problems as well. A case in point is single-country investment into the scene. For all the promise Saudi Arabia investing in esports poses for fans, there’s also been equal cries of sportswashing, especially from western audiences. 

And then of course, you have to consider the fact that the country isn’t exactly safe for LGBTQ+ demographics, which really runs antithetical to the whole point of anyone being able to make it in sports. Would it really be an “Olympics” if not everyone had the chance to partake safely? 

Put this all together, and it becomes clear that money alone isn’t enough. Even with the aforementioned Esports World Cup, which boasts a $60 million prize pool featuring the largest esports organisations in the world, the viewership has been underwhelming to put it lightly. For a title like ‘Overwatch’, roughly 100,000 viewers was the peak online audience. Not only that, but the event only averaged around 30,000 viewers, which was poor even by the esport’s own standards, considering the fact that earlier this year, at Dreamhack Dallas, The Overwatch Champion Series playoffs had averaged around 97,000. 

With all that said, Max does raise the point that individual esports events rarely match or exceed traditional sports. However, this emphasises exactly what needs to be thought about if the Olympics and esports are truly to be a strong pairing for the longer term. 

“The Olympics will help with esports exposure, but to truly take competitive gaming to the mass market, the communities, broadcasts, and schedule information need to be more inclusive and accessible to new fans,” he adds. 

To this end, he notes that the broadcasting plan for these games is going to be essential. Considering the fact that the majority of traditional esports are streamed on either Twitch or YouTube, there’s no doubt that in the US, a TV broadcast would statistically underperform when, once again, compared to traditional Olympic sports. “However, the Olympics does have a Twitch channel, and of course they’re on YouTube, so it will be fun to watch how they develop and expand those platforms,” he concludes.

This does pose a serious possibility, affirms Milan. Considering the fact that the last Olympic Games in Tokyo reached a global audience of more than 3 billion, all while the total number of in-person spectators was (only) 43 thousand, it’s clear that online viewing is the popular choice. “Doing the maths, this means 99.9999% of people watched the Olympics on-screen, opting to tune in from the comfort of their own homes without the thrill of spectating IRL,” he says. Incidentally, this parallels exactly how the majority of esports fans partake in their respective titles. Clearly, it’d take a little finagling, but the potential is there. 

With all this said, it’s clear that when putting esports and the Olympics together, you’re left with a very interesting set of components. On the one hand, you’ve got a giant event with an established audience and great funding that’s slowly bleeding out viewership and needs to appeal to younger blood. And on the other, you’ve got something that’s still financially shaky, sees inconsistent viewership - in part from limited marketing - but is popular with the younger crowd. Is there a way to make it all fit? Or is it simply too idealistic? For a few creative minds in the industry, it’s legitimately doable, although there is debate about which side would benefit more. 

As Mark Baron, executive producer at We Are Collider argues, “who says esports needs the Olympics, and not the other way around?” And, backing his point are some compelling statistics. While yes, as established, a good handful of esports are struggling for viewership… not all of them are. The likes of the world’s largest esports tournament, ‘League of Legend Worlds’ has, in fact, seen a year-on-year peak viewership increase of 25%, with 99 million unique viewers for the final on streaming sites like Twitch and YouTube. It might be an exception rather than the rule, but it certainly affirms the potential a tactical partnership and investment might pose. 

“Not only that, but esports attracts a younger, highly-engaged audience, particularly in the Asia Pacific region,” he continues. “To stay relevant, the Olympics would benefit from engaging this demographic through the integration of more mainstream games and by considering the platforms where this content lives.”

On the other hand, Mars Mahoney, director of strategy at Battery observes that it’s a two-way street of benefits, and that esports would have much to gain as well. “Esports' inclusion in the Olympics is a major achievement for the industry, as it introduces and further legitimises the sport's global appeal,” he observes. “This move will pave the way for the next generation of athletes while making esports' viewership more accessible for everyone, showcasing the evolution of connected entertainment experiences for players and fans worldwide."

So, if all this goes to plan, what might the outcome look like? According to Karim Jaafar, brand experience manager at Cheil UAE, it might genuinely end up with esports being bigger than the Olympics themselves. 

“Hear me out,” he explains. “Yes, the last Olympics (in Tokyo) garnered over 3 billion viewers from around the world, but that’s for all of the sports combined, and some of those sports are headlined by some of the biggest sporting superstars. However, when we’re talking about esports, we’re addressing one single discipline.”

It’s a valid point. While yes, if you combine the viewership of esports titles, it won’t compete with Olympic numbers, you’re also comparing something that appeals to a very specific and niche audience - especially gen z, gen alpha, and younger people who are growing up with this being normalised - to a whole host of competitions which boast their own audiences and appeals individually. 

“If the NFT and metaverse craze a few years ago proved anything, it’s that there is a whole world out there revolving around tech, gaming and online communities that boomers and millennials just don’t understand enough,” Karim continues. “Whilst sports stars were the heroes of the past, gracing cereal boxes and inspiring the young generations, today it is the gamers and streamers that do so.”

There’s also another important distinction worth making: that being the fact that just because one could put Olympic branding on esports doesn’t mean the logistics required to run it would be the same as traditional Olympic sports. 

Specifically, all that’s needed for an esports event is a pre-established arena with room for good gaming setups, audience seating, and, ideally, an in-house server to ensure strong connectivity. It’s not exactly simple, but there’s also a nimbleness that comes with it. You can bring a pre-existing setup to a host location and temporarily install it, without building something new and making a major financial investment, as we see when countries shell out millions to create a new original venue. In short, it’s accessible, but without an aggressive cost of entry. 

Moreover, like we see with traditional sports - football is a good example - being in the Olympics doesn’t prevent the likes of global tournaments (the World Cup) and continental tournaments (the Euros and Copa America) from occurring. The same would be true for esports, which could not only continue to grow on its own accord, but might even benefit from the anticipation and build up of the Olympics’ four-year wait and branding, leaving time for excitement to manifest. 

And then, of course, there’s also the matter of potential sponsorship, which is another point Karim raises. “From a funding perspective, esports could soon outdo the Olympics when it comes to sponsorship ROI for brands,” he says. “If we look at the main athlete sponsors for the Olympics, we see Nike and adidas at the forefront, with other sporting brands following through. However, with esports, it is Nvidia, ASUS, and other companies that have much higher valuation than their regular sporting counterparts,”... which is really something worth thinking about. 

So, to answer the question about whether one needs the other more, whether or not they need each other equally, or if they should even be paired together, it seems like only time will tell. However, there’s considerations that must be made one way or another. Demographics and target audiences must be evaluated, broadcasting must be sorted out in a way that can combine traditional audiences with sports audiences, and the cost of entry must be evaluated. 

Yet, with all that said, there’s one thing for certain. The potential is there. And should it come to fruition, marketers will have a very big role to play in whether the project lives or dies. It’s just a matter of what all gets put in – that will be the determining factor in whether or not this is the start of something better and beautiful, both for the future of the Olympics, and esports.