One way to think of the current lockdown is that it is a period of ‘accelerated evolution’. People have been forced to dramatically change their way of life (a mutation) and if these new habits are useful when things get back to normal then they will become trends, with less useful mutations being resigned to history.
For example, businesses are seeing the value of remote working and this is a change that is likely to stay. Whereas all those shiny new bicycles will be back in the shed when the wind and rain returns, car traffic increases and if local authorities have only piecemeal investment in cycling infrastructure (as an aside, painting a bicycle on a footpath is not an investment in cycling infrastructure!).
This idea of accelerated evolution made me think of eSports, a trend that has been hanging around the outskirts of sport for a while as professional clubs and leagues try to work out if it is a threat or opportunity.
The opportunity is that eSports is popular with the young demographic sports marketeers are so keen to attract, but is it really the same thing as what happens on the pitch, court etc? Is it something you can use to increase your fanbase, or is it a competitor?
Many clubs have already invested in eSports, both for sports and other eGames, but this is a fraction of their total spend and feels more like an insurance policy in case it really takes off.
However with supporters in lockdown there has been a rise in interest for using eSports in more traditional setting as Sports try to maintain a link with their fan bases. For example, in the last two months
- Formula E established an online series for their drivers and one for sim racers
- NBA teams have streamed virtual versions of the games they would have been playing each night had the season not been suspended
- The NHL created an online Challenge tournament for existing players
This is a new type of eSports, it is aimed at linking fans with the club/sport while the real action is missing, rather than investing in professional eSports players or leagues. But in this world of accelerated evolution will it be a successful mutation, or something that falls by the wayside when the real-life action returns?
Eventually there may be a cross-over as both sport and eSport learn from each other, but this is a longer term evolution rather than the accelerated evolution of our lockdown experience.
While that is an impossible question to answer, it does show the dilemma for traditional sport when thinking about eSports. Is it about connecting real-life sport to the virtual world (becoming an augmented reality experience) or is it a discipline in itself, with gaming leagues and stars existing separately to sport (and often in competitions that are not sports but games like League of Legends)?
Your answer to these questions probably depends on your own views on sport. For me, I suspect this virtual experience is a short-term answer to a problem and is a mutation that wont last when the live action returns. Meanwhile eSports will continue to grow in its own world and will emerge as a threat to Sports that are looking to connect with a younger generation.
So sport and eSports are on different trajectories to the future, and for a club or league the best strategy may be to think short and long term. Imagine the current situation as a mutation that wont last when the live action returns but is still useful to keep fans engaged. Longer term, professional eSports is different and it is a threat that is best handled by embracing it and investing in players and leagues now.
Eventually there may be a cross-over as both sport and eSport learn from each other, but this is a longer term evolution rather than the accelerated evolution of our lockdown experience.
Sport.dat 