Oct 20, 2024 4 min read Gaming Science

Can Esports Find a Home in the Olympics? Lessons from the First Olympic Virtual Series

What did we learn from the Olympic Virtual Series, and can esports ever truly join the Olympic Games?

Good day, everyone.

It's time for Gaming Science episode #72. This episode is a continuation of the discussion on esports joining the Olympic Games from last week. We will review lessons from the first Olympic Virtual Series (OVS), including goals, key success factors, and hurdles to including esports in future Olympic Games programs.

💡 Highlights
• The Olympic Virtual Series was the Olympics' first attempt to include esports.
• It is unclear whether virtual products like the OVS can generate new value and positively impact the Olympics' brand.
• OVS value creation goals, key success factors, and hurdles exist.
• The International Olympic Committee (IOC) should better use its key assets, communicate clear goals, and close the expertise gap to have a chance to add esports to future Olympic Games.
• However, many challenges such as needing publishers' approval and the uncertain nature of esports may be difficult to overcome.

🥇 The First Olympic Virtual Games

Esports has a disruptive element because it has changed modern media practices. This disruptive nature presents a challenge to many involved in the Olympic Games (OG), but also holds tremendous value.

"[For instance,] esports and video games have gained immense popularity among younger generations, making them an effective medium for reaching and engaging with [esports] demographic[s] [1]."

In contrast, the viewership age of the Olympic Games is much higher—just one of the problems we discussed in this episode. Back in 2021, the IOC held the first Olympic Virtual Series as an attempt to include esports. It also showcased the expansion of its business model to include digital components. This is not unusual, as the Olympic Movement has added new disciplines like skateboarding, climbing, breakdancing, and surfing to the Paris 2024 program.

"... it remains unclear whether and how a new global mediatised product like the OVS [Olympic Virtual Series] can generate new value, reframing a positive perception of the Olympic brand [to attract a younger audience] [2]."

🗣️ Seven Experts Speaking

To explore this topic, the authors of the study interviewed seven managers and marketers from International Sports Federations (non-governmental organizations that administer sports at the world level). All interviewees were responsible for esports activities in the Olympic Virtual Series.

📈 Hurdles, Success Factors, and Goals

The interview results were categorized into (1) OVS value creation goals, (2) key success factors for OVS value creation, and (3) OVS challenges and key areas for improvement.

🎯 OVS Value Creation Goal

“The Olympic Committee is always looking to maintain a relevant audience which generally means a younger one [2].”

This illustrates their main goal was to stay connected with the younger audience, which could also revitalize the Olympic Games brand through esports. However, before the OVS in 2021, the IOC urged the International Sports Federations to build esports competitions from scratch without providing a main goal, operational advice, or a roadmap. It’s easy to see how this could be a hurdle for building a long-term esports strategy.

In such uncertain circumstances, the OVS seemed doomed from the start, especially "since the IOC appeared to crave the esports audience more than the esports industry actually needed the IOC's support" [2].

"The mistake the IOC could make is to think that they are also the kings of gaming. [. . .] I think they can totally miss out [with OVS] since esports did not wait for the Olympic Games to succeed [2]."

Another hurdle in creating value in this uncertain environment is the dominant position of game publishers. If esports were to be included in the Olympic Games, the game publishers couldn’t be excluded from discussions, as they hold all rights regarding competition, marketing, etc., for their games.

🔑 Key Success Factors for the OVS Value Creation

The first factor mentioned was aligning the Olympic values of excellence, friendship, and respect with esports. However, this may not be the case for all games.

“FPS and fighting games represent video games with insane gameplay because humans aren’t made for this. [...] But no, this is not sport [2].”

A second success factor is the IOC’s key assets, which could support their goals. These assets include delivering medals to the athletes, promoting OVS winners through official ceremonies, and adding additional values for athletes that money can’t buy, such as visits to the Olympic Museum.

🤺 OVS Challenges and Key Areas for Improvement

Here are some challenges and areas for improvement mentioned by the interviewees:

Financial accessibility: This includes the cost of video games, consoles, PCs, or the lack of internet access in some areas or countries.
Choice of game: As discussed in the earlier episode, it’s unclear which game(s) will remain relevant for the next 5, 10, or even 20+ years. Committing to a game could be costly if that game loses popularity.
Lack of human resources with expertise in esports: Most International Sports Federations don’t have in-house expertise in esports. This is a critical issue when dealing with video games.

🤔 What can We Learn from It?

There are many challenges that need to be addressed for esports to emerge as a possible candidate for inclusion in the Olympic Games. However, it’s up for debate whether this will happen on a large scale (beyond the first OVS), given the uncertain environment of esports. As pointed out before, it seems the Olympics need esports more than esports needs the Olympics.

... and with that, thanks for reading. See you next week,

Christian 🙂