Every couple of years the sporting world becomes performatively enraged at the “news” that a modern sport is going to be added to the Olympic Games schedule. Newspapers, TV shows and social media sites become momentarily flooded with people claiming that this modern sport has no place in the Olympics and that including it would be an affront to the traditions of the Games.

What most of these critics fail to grasp is that traditionally, the Olympic Games have been home to an incredible array of bizarre events. In 1924 for example, Jack Butler Yeats was narrowly beaten to a Gold in the Mixed Painting by Jean Jacoby from Luxembourg.

Then in 1948, Yrjo Lindergren scooped Gold for his native Finland in Town Planning, owing to his work with The Centre of Athletics in Varkaus. These weren’t two isolated events either, there were many more: Statues, Mixed Sculpturing, Literature and even Engravings and Etchings.

Vocal critics of eSports claim that its inclusion in the Olympic Games would be an affront to the tradition of the tournament, it’s clear that they know absolutely nothing about the history of the event that they appear so keen to preserve and protect.

In this article then, we steer clear of the coma-inducing discourse about whether or not eSports should be included in the Olympics and instead, analyse whether or not it will be included in the Games.

Early Incorporation 

Initially, eSports was seen as a novelty by those in the media, but in recent years we have all been forced to recognise its growing legitimacy. The worldwide gaming industry, in general, continues to go from strength to strength, it is estimated to be worth over $350 billion. Surprisingly, the mobile gaming market generates an estimated $248 billion of the total, suggesting there is an increased number of casual gamers, compared to those who spend hours playing one game. 

The gambling industry has made a point to embrace these casual gamers who are likely to be playing for shorter periods. But how do the biggest companies within the eSports industry turn these casual gamers into spectators? Online gambling sites do now offer betting markets on the biggest events which adds to the drama and helps to attract a whole new audience. While we’re unlikely to see a choice of pokies  streamed live online at the eSports Olympics, it does seem that eSports in general is something the Olympic community is really considering. With people winning over $40 million, it’s hard to ignore.

By 2025, there are expected to be over 318 million eSports enthusiasts worldwide, in addition to this, 322.7 million people are forecast to be occasional viewers of eSports by the same year. 

Whilst the media may have been slow on the uptake, the same could not be said of the Olympics themselves. In 2021, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) recognised the growing appeal of eSports by announcing the Olympic Virtual Series.

That first event combined a mixture of events from Motorsport on Gran Turismo Sport, which was won by Valerio Gallo of Italy, to Cycling Ultimate Chase Race (a virtual exercise game), in which British athlete Alistair Brownlee won Gold.

Moving Forward

Two years later the IOC, encouraged by the success of the 2021 event unveiled plans for an annual Olympic eSports week which would be hosted in Saudi Arabia across the following 12 years. This move has left eSports half in and half out of the door in terms of Olympic inclusion.

Whilst it is true that the events are held in an Olympic style and are governed by IOC federations, there were still no eSports events at Paris 2024 and nor will there be at Los Angeles in 2028 as things stand.

Why the Separation?

Well, there are several reasons for the separation between the Summer Olympics and the Olympic eSports week. The biggest reason at the moment is money. Saudi Arabia is a country keen to rebrand itself internationally and many people say that they are going about it currently through sports washing.

It is why we are seeing so many top-level sports events held in the kingdom, it’s why we have seen the Saudi wealth fund purchase Newcastle United and it's why the Olympic eSports week is being held in the country for the next 12 years.

In the Olympics case, they have simply followed suit with several other sporting organisations in accepting Saudi money without worrying too much about the wider societal implications. That’s not an outright criticism, it’s just a statement of fact.

What that means in terms of eSports is that the event will undoubtedly continue to grow as it is flooded by Saudi money and investment. However, it will have to wait for well over a decade before it can be included in the Summer Olympics due to the terms of the agreement made with Saudi Arabia.

Gaming Exclusion

Another reason why the event has not been included in the Summer Olympics is the current impasse between organisers and competitors. The former has rejected several traditional eSports titles from the vent as they have been deemed “too violent”.

With the exclusion of titles like Counter-Strike, Dota, League of Legends and Valorant, the Olympics have struggled to get the eSports community fully on board. Until it does that and until the event can be held outside of Saudi Arabia, we will continue to see eSports run separately from the summer tournament…