By Ramy Salameh
Imagine having the chance to compete against a true sporting great. It’s unthinkable for the vast majority of people, but based on the current esports revolution this may well be a plausible concept in the cyber world of the future.
Since my last article – Could esports be the ‘virtual’ savior of global sporting events? – many more international sports stars, clubs and events have announced and seen the potential of running an esport tournament.
It provides global sports fans entertainment, links into growing esports audiences since the coronavirus pandemic halted conventional sports and most importantly, provides the sports industry a means to charitably support efforts to tackle Covid-19.
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Major sports and teams get involved
British tennis star Andy Murray – a self-confessed gaming aficionado – and Frenchman Lucas Pouille were the first ATP Tour players to sign up for the Mutua Madrid Open Virtual Pro, which will take place later this month.
In addition and running in parallel with the tournament, there will be a series of benefit matches bringing together the biggest content creators in the gaming world taking on professional tennis players.
Electronic Arts (EA), the developers of the ultra-popular Fifa game series, is organising the Fifa Stay and Play Cup which takes place from 15-19 April. This is an online competition bringing together 20 of Europe’s leading football clubs and 20 leading players to battle it out online.
The likes of Liverpool, Chelsea, Real Madrid and Ajax have selected high-profile club players to represent them in the cup tournament.
Formula 1 was one of the earliest sports to get back on track with the F1 Esports Virtual Grand Prix series.
Have you ever heard of Dani Bereznay? Most probably not, yet BBC Sport reported that the 19-year old Hungarian has claimed the scalp of many F1 drivers. However, this did happen on a virtual track.
Bereznay is an official esports F1 driver for Alfa Romeo, which he described as the realisation of a dream, especially since real racing can be prohibitively expensive.
He said: “Esports was the best route for me because it’s equal opportunities. Real racing is expensive. With esports, you can show that you still have the control and heart of a real racer.”
New opportunities of the future
The Covid-19 pandemic has created new platforms, encouraged new competition formats and attracted new elite athletes to bring their real world sporting knowledge online, thus opening up a whole new e-world of possibilities.
As Bereznay proves, there is the potential for amateur enthusiasts to be on an equal footing with the elite competitors. Bereznay is of course a professional esports player, but his example does lay the basis for amateurs to compete with the elite on an equal footing.
Maybe the “Pro vs. Amateur” concept could take the form of federations setting up consumer/fan competitions which result in winners having the chance to play their idols online? This could go all the way through to a futuristic vision incorporating artificial intelligence (AI), where amateur sports people are able to pit their wits against an AI sporting idol.
I am certain that the discussions around the model of AI training programmes for professional athletes is already underway, so bridging the gap to incorporate amateur audiences is closer than we think.
Having witnessed the speed and indeed the popularity of creating an online replica of well-known sporting events, the esports revolution is here and ready to further blur the lines between the physical and online/virtual worlds sooner rather than later.
Main image: EA Sports Fifa / Twitch
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