Does Esports Need the Olympics?

What exactly is going on at the IOC?

More specifically, what is the thinking behind the recent reports that the IOC has suspended operations of it’s Esports Commission? There has been no official announcement, but sources close to operations have alluded to the fact that Esports is now part of a larger rethink.

This after the IOC and the Saudis parted ways last year, after initially signing a 12 year agreement to host the Esports Olympics.

Could this be part of concerted effort by the IOC to focus more on polishing-up it’s credibility, especially following on the damage done by Paris 2024, namely;

• Global political double standards 
• Domestic French issues
• Domestic human rights issues
• Various health and hygeine issues
• The doping and transgender issues, to name but a few headlines.

Are the IOC about to get it’s political standards aligned and is this the end of sports-washing? Does Esports offer IOC President Kirsty Coventry the opportunity to evolve the Olympic commercials and maintain global diplomacy – two of her key priorities. Either way, what it does say about the IOC and it’s current group-think is that the current Esports generation are not important! Not important enough that they would rather focus on the current ageing Olympic fan and delay the onboarding of the newer generation of sports fans and the revenue that that would bring.

Let’s be real though, when an esports title like League of Legends (LoL) consistently attracts more than 6.7M peak viewers at both their 2024 and 2025 World Championships, does Esports really need the Olympics?

The argument for, is that the Olympics certainly offers a level of credibility and recognition and would go a long way toward getting many countries – particulalrly here in Africa – to officially recognise Esports.

The argument against, is that Esports is already a series of ecosystems all of its own. With game developers, publishers, leagues, tournaments and an army of fans that are the envy of most global sports!

One must also remember, that unlike any traditional sport, Esports is not just one sport (one game), it is a collection of “forever games” that have etched their place in the hearts of gamers young and old. There is no singular set of rules. There is no singular rights holder. And there is no singular ecosystem or commercial model for that matter. 

It is precisely for these reasons that this writer believes that the IOC is stepping back. They cannot copy-paste as they do with traditional sports! Which means that they cannot control it!

This is a bump in the road for credibility and recognition but with an estimated 4 Billion people playing video games everyday, is credibility and recognition really the issue?