Syracuse

The global phenomenon of esports has experienced exponential growth in recent years. Digital, international and flexible, competitive gaming appeals to a young and emerging audience and is hence gaining increased attention from the media, sports and technology industries, as well as the international sporting community. 

Competitive gaming started before the age of internet when, nearly 50 years ago, in October 1972 at the University of Stanford (USA), the first-ever official video game competition, called the “Intergalactic Spacewar Olympics”, was organised. Then in 1980, Atari hosted the “Space Invaders Championship”, with over 10,000 participants, and since that time the practice of video games has developed widely in society. 

In the ‘90s, the movement gained traction in both North America and Asia when computers became more affordable and more powerful, and governments started to invest heavily in broadband and telecoms. In South Korea, the arrival of high-speed internet led to the rise of internet cafés known as “PC bangs”, which offered the opportunity to play video games at a very affordable rate and became places to hang out and socialise. 

Since then, with the arrival of new streaming platforms, the release of new games and new business models such as Free2Play, esports and video gaming have burst into the mainstream, transforming from a vibrant niche sector to a central form of entertainment around the world. Revenues grew from USD 776 million in 2018 to USD 1.1 billion in 2020, and the worldwide audience increased from 395 million in 2018 to 495 million in 2020. Despite this remarkable growth, it is still small compared to the USD 153 billion in revenues generated by gaming as a whole, and the USD 620 billion in revenues generated by professional sport in 2020.  

Considering this ongoing growth in popularity among young people, the question as to how traditional sports and the Olympic Movement should consider engaging with these communities in order to reach young audiences is apparent. But what exactly is considered to be an esport, and can esports be viewed as a “sport”? You will find many articles on this page that will help you make up your own opinion as to whether esports can be considered a sport. We would like to highlight three of them: “E-sport and the EU: the view from the English Bridge Union” by Cem Abanazir, in which he questions the definition of esports; “E-sports are not sports” by Jim Parry; and “Virtual(ly) athletes: where esports fit within the definition of sport” by Seth Jenny and al. 

The 6th Olympic Summit, held in 2017, came to the conclusion that “competitive ‘esports’ could be considered as a sporting activity and the players involved prepare and train with an intensity which may be comparable to athletes in traditional sports”. However, there was no position taken as to whether esports can be considered a sport. It was also stated that, in order to be recognised by the IOC as a sport, esports’ content must not infringe on the Olympic values. A further requirement mentioned for recognition by the IOC. A further requirement for recognition by the IOC was the existence of an organisation that guarantees compliance with the rules and regulations of the Olympic Charter (anti-doping, illegal betting, competition manipulation, etc.). 

Regardless of their recognition as a sport, esports are widely considered a professional activity. Various universities in countries like South Korea, the USA and China now offer varsity esports programmes. Large tournaments are organised which attract sponsors and investments, from celebrities to international brands, resulting in sold-out stadiums and hundreds of millions of livestream viewers. The article “What is esports and why do people watch it?” by Juho Hamari and Max Sjöblom explains why esports are an attractive product. 

In order to promote the Olympic sports and the Olympic values in esports and gaming, in 2018 the IOC and the Global Association of International Sports Federations (GAISF) announced the formation of an Esports and Gaming Liaison Group (ELG). The aim was to devise a pragmatic approach to discuss areas of commonality and potential collaboration and determine which elements can be integrated across the Olympic Movement. 

At the 7th Olympic Summit, held in December 2018, the IOC considered it premature to think about the inclusion of esports as a medal event on the Olympic programme. However, it recognised their importance and encouraged International Federations, at the 8th Olympic Summit one year later, to consider how electronic and virtual forms of their sport could be governed, and to explore opportunities with games publishers. It was agreed that the IOC and the Olympic Movement should focus their activities around two core areas. The primary area of focus consists in facilitating the integration of sports simulations into the Olympic Movement. The secondary area of focus aims to develop health and wellness for esports competitors, regardless of games and genres – encouraging players at all levels to participate in sport and pursue a healthy lifestyle 

Some examples of sports federations and leagues which are already integrating esports successfully – and organise esports world championships with professional esports players and events with the gaming community – include FIFA, FIBA, the NBA, the NHL and Formula1. 

During the 135th IOC Session in January 2020 in Lausanne, IOC President Thomas Bach stated: “Whether they could one day be considered for the Olympic programme – the answer is yes. It depends when this day is coming.” The article “Integration of esports in the structure of IFs: disruption or continuity” by Cedrick Aghey goes in-depth on issues surrounding the integration of esports into already existing sporting structures. 

A new milestone was reached in June 2023 where the first ever IOC’s “Olympic Esports Week” was organised in Singapore, to which over 130 players came together to compete in 10 mixed-gender events. Building on the success of the Olympic Virtual Series in 2021, over half a million players entered the qualification rounds, hoping to secure their place in the first finals played live in front of fans. 

Further to the brief introduction to the topic set out above, and in order to facilitate your research, we have compiled a selection of the most important publications, an extensive list of links and a wide range of academic articles for you on this page. This is of course just a selection of the resources available; so be sure to check out the full list of resources in the Olympic World Library via the link at the bottom of the page, or search in the full catalogue for other topics of interest.