Paris is considering eSports for the 2024 Olympics

[Greg S]

The ever rising competitive nature of eSports may be expressed at a new venue, and its pretty well known. The 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, France may be the first time that eSports are recognized as a true sport with friendly international competition.

Tony Estanguet, co-president of the Paris Olympic bid committee, stated in an interview that he will be holding discussions with the International Olympic Committee (IOC) on adding events to keep modern audiences involved and watching.

No word is officially out about which games are potentially under consideration for Olympic competition. Based on current competitive gaming trends and prize pool sizes, Dota 2, League of Legends, and Counter-Strike: Global Offensive hold the top three slots and are therefore likely to receive greatest consideration.

The IOC admits that it is going to have to take the time and research eSports in order to find out what draws in younger demographics because few people involved are familiar with the gaming industry. Viewership of the Olympics has been down in previous years among young to middle aged adults, causing the IOC to very seriously consider bringing in events that will appeal to younger crowds.

A decision is far from being reached as the official agenda for the 2024 Olympics will not enter planning stages until 2019. Should gamers be able to take home medals for their skills?

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https://www.techspot.com/news/70523-paris-considering-esports-2024-olympics.html

 

[MoeJoe]

L M A O that this is even a thing.

 

[Nobina]

It wouldn't fit with the rest so I wouldn't include it.

 

[davislane1]

Should you earn a gold medal by using a keyboard and mouse?

No.

 

[mbrowne5061]

If they want to attract a younger audience, they should update their selection of sports. Video games aren't sports.

Off the top of my head: Rock climbing & bouldering, downhill mountain bike racing, kite surfing, slack lining, more adrenaline sports in general. Look at the sports 20-something are doing, and air those.

I never found any team sport all that fascinating to watch on TV - Olympics or no - I just don't think hey transmit all that well. You're either focused on the ball, or on a wide field shot, wherever the people in the studio think you should/want to be looking.

 

[Uncle Al]

It's always good to draw the younger crowd, but it would be a lot better to get them off their tails and out there participating in athletic events! I don't see the "couch potato crawl" as being a headliner!

 

[Skidmarksdeluxe]

How is playing computer games even considered a sport? It's beyond me. Maybe the fastest touchscreen keyboard typists should also be considered as olympians and have their own event in the Olympics. Yeah, it'll really stimulate global interest and have people sitting on the edges of their seats. Computer games should be classified as entertainment, definitely not a sport.

 

[bmw95]

This is a pretty cool idea actually. If there was an olympics eSport event on starcraft 2 I'd definitely watch. Chess applied to be included in the olympics and I hope it gets in there as well.

 

[Paulos7]

Okay... Well, would these modern day Olympiads be tested for caffeine or other stimulants? Surely the Olympic committee would not allow the use of stimulants or other drugs, so these eSports participants would be subjected to blood screening, just like their fellow Olympiads that actually get their butt out of a chair when they compete with each other. I’m not a gamer myself, but is it even possible to get gamers to compete without ingesting copious amounts of beverages that contain caffeine and/or other stimulants? I did a Wikipedia search on “Sport” and was surprised to find that

“The International Olympic Committee (through ARISF) recognises both chess and bridge as bona fide sports, and SportAccord, the international sports federation association, recognises five non-physical sports: bridge, chess, draughts (checkers), Go and xiangqi, and limits the number of mind games which can be admitted as sports”.

Mind games. Reminds me of a bi-polar ex-girlfriend. If they actually allow video game events in future Olympics, surely they will eventually include other “mind games”. If they consider chess and bridge (which we all know are two very active, fast paced games) to be sports, surely they would include “eSport” games. At the current rate of advances in technology, in the future, a quadriplegic man will be able to compete against non-physically challenged participants in various sporting events using only a computer program and his mind (no, really). They will then have to put wheelchair ramps to the Olympic medal stands. Personally, I think tiddlywinks are making a big comeback and will soon be an eSport in the Olympics. Don’t forget, you heard it first on TechSpot.

 

[Burty117]

Meh, I watch the opening ceremony and listen out to who's winning the medals and that's about it.

If they add eSport titles like Overwatch or CS:GO I'd actually tune in to watch. I've got a friend who plays CS:GO competitively and it's incredible to watch him play.

 

[Puiu]

Yeah sure, why not. It will be fun. It's definitely doable and the viewership should be quite high too if they stream the events.

 

[Bao Nguyen]

How is playing computer games even considered a sport? It's beyond me. Maybe the fastest touchscreen keyboard typists should also be considered as olympians and have their own event in the Olympics. Yeah, it'll really stimulate global interest and have people sitting on the edges of their seats. Computer games should be classified as entertainment, definitely not a sport.

It requires tremendous amount of training to even compete in eSport these days. It's definitely not anybody who just know how to use a mouse and keyboard that can compete. The TI 2017 is going on, look it up, there are millions of audiences cheering for their favorite teams. The winner will bring home over 10 million of US dollars. Does it sound like sport to you?

On the other hand, we still have chess who is considered a sport in Olympic, I don't see why video games can't be considered sport if chess can. Both requires lots of talents and training to compete.

 

[mailpup]

On the other hand, we still have chess who is considered a sport in Olympic, ...

No it's not.

 

[Hexic]

It could work - regardless of those in denial, eSports is becoming a very large industry. With a $25 million payout for the winner of DoTA 2's "The International" tournament, I believe it'll just take some time to adjust.

Those who don't understand (or even care to understand) the aspects of what goes into some (only some) competitive games these days may never be convinced. If and when these kids begin getting paid as much as their traditional sports counterparts - that's who gets the last laugh. It's all a business to make money anymore; that's all sports in general has devolved into.

 

[complexxL9]

Olympics? Is that like dota TI for the old fashioned muscle sports?

 

[Magnums94]

Regardless of many opposing the idea, I would find it to be a very interesting concept of adding eSports to the Olympics. Sure, you can argue that they don't really fit in there, but as we all know, nowadays it's all about the money and eSports are drawing A LOT of money and cash flow are only going to increase.

eSports are becoming bigger with each year, no longer it's about computer nerds and ''no life'' gamers that participate there, more and more people become involved there, not only the pro players and spectators, but also some intermediate level players and just casuals, who enjoy eSports and what they have become.

Competetive matches between friends, local tournaments, LAN tournaments, LAN parties... you name it.

Regarding viewership, eSports are definitely not going to have a problem with viewership, even more if eSports are going to be part of Olympics.

For example, take a look on League of Legends and CS:GO international tournaments, when they get streamed on various platforms, like Youtube and Twitch. On Youtube alone, there are 100k+ viewers!

Also, joining in the previous posted opinions, eSports in Olympics would definitely draw more younger audience from which everyone would just benefit.

Long story short - I'm all for it.

P.S. It's time to value your intellect as well, not only muscle mass.

 

[Arnon]

I think it is good idea to add esport to sport. It's not just the sport which you only type keybroad and click your mouse. A good mouse and expensive keybroad can not take you to be the winner. If you have watched it for long time as me, you will know it actually is sport. But think about Olympic I don't have opinion.

 

[Skidmarksdeluxe]

It requires tremendous amount of training to even compete in eSport these days. It's definitely not anybody who just know how to use a mouse and keyboard that can compete. The TI 2017 is going on, look it up, there are millions of audiences cheering for their favorite teams. The winner will bring home over 10 million of US dollars. Does it sound like sport to you?

On the other hand, we still have chess who is considered a sport in Olympic, I don't see why video games can't be considered sport if chess can. Both requires lots of talents and training to compete.

I guess it has to be classified as something and hobby, pastime and entertainment just doesn't sound very appealing when in fact that's all it is, even if it rakes in some serious dough. To include it into the Olympic Games? Somebody's seriously losing the plot. The only reason it would even be considered is because of the revenue it generates and nobody can have enough of that. Chess? I never knew it was included into the games, not that it's something I'd tune in to watch because I'd find watching grass grow more nail biting.

 

[Cubi Dorf]

If they add more events and NBC doesn't show them then nobody will care anyway. They seem to only want to show swimming, running, and gymnastics. I don't watch those because they are mostly boring. They should add ultimate frisbee. I would watch ultimate. Ultimate is pretty popular at the university so I think many kids would watch it. I think competitive video games could be as interesting to watch as some physical sports. Whether or not it's a sport is just depending how your definition of sports. It's not an insult or putting down video games to say it's not a sport. It's may be a different, but equal thing. Both take tons of skill and practice to be the best. It's probably just a different kind of training.