Can Esports Fill the Void of Sports Events Lost to Coronavirus?

By Ricard Jensen and Ryan Dastrup

Because of the public health fears related to the coronavirus, it’s nearly impossible to find a major sports event that is now being played.

All the biggest sports events in the USA have been postponed, with the hope that we can get this pandemic under control by the summer and then resume some normal routine in the world of sports. Globally, coronavirus concerns have shut down most of the world’s biggest sports events; we will likely hear soon if the 2020 Tokyo Olympics will also be postponed.

In the absence of most kinds of live sport, it’s interesting to take a look at how sports events and broadcasting networks are responding.

For sports fans, almost all the sports TV networks in the USA are resorting to showing taped highlights of previous events. ESPN is showing classic NBA, college football, and NFL games and other CATV channels are following suit. The only major professional sport that has said it won’t postpone events is the UFC, which as recently as March 14 said they still intended to hold live events at “new venues.”

Fox Sports 1 was still able to show live soccer matches after many sports leagues in the USA had postponed their seasons. But the Mexican League announced there would be no games played after March 15.

ESPN has announced it will suspend production of some of it’s anchor-driven sports shows, most notably Pardon the Interruption and the early morning version of Sports Center.

Esports could potentially fill the vacuum caused by the postponement of mainstream sports. Elite esports competitions are being played at arena and venues before live fans, just like traditional sports, so many of those events are also being postponed. But esports have backup plans that traditional sports do not. While all the major sports leagues are being postponed, China’s League of Legends Pro League is starting back up. Riot Games, the developer of League of Legends, moved all competitions online.

For example, iRacing can be a temporary substitute for NASCAR related events. The Phoenix Suns tweeted that despite the season being suspended, they plan to play season games on NBA 2K20, and streamed via Twitch.

Rod Breslau, an esports journalist, discussed in an AdAge article how esports might ease the pain of many sports fans. He said, “It’s much more realistic to hold an event inside of a studio and have it go flawlessly than do an event in a stadium. Esports has a huge advantage in that they can continue competition. We will lose out on the huge regional events and international competitions, but the esports scene as a whole will be able to continue.”

Turner’s E-League was one of the first programs to bring esports over to linear television and has broadcasted events in Rocket League, CS:GO, Dota 2 and more esports. ESPN Esports has been a leader in breaking esports news and recently expanded past articles into the broadcast shows that ESPN is known for.

There are some newsworthy developments taking place in sports, even though the games have ceased. For example, the NFL Players Association approved the new collective bargaining agreement. NFL Free Agency will start soon and there will doubtless be fans tuning in to see where Tom Brady might land and where other top name free agents might sign. The NFL Draft is likely to be postponed until late May but the intrigue about which players will keep climbing to the top of the draft board will hold the attention of some sports fans. And the USA Women’s National Soccer Team is discussing their grievances with the US Soccer Federation. So at least, on the business side of sports, there is some news to discuss.

On a broader scale, there are fears that the lack of live sports broadcasting will make many CATV subscribers re-examine how much they are paying for sports on cable TV each month and, instead, consider cutting the cord. If the number of people subscribing to CATV plummets, that would seem to hurt TV ratings. In addition, Fausto Zanetton, chief executive of Tifosy capital and advisory said “…clubs have commercial contracts which are contingent on ‘brand exposure’, matches being broadcasted and/or dependent on spectators in the stadium.” Several analysts are warning that the loss of live sports could even accelerate the death of traditional television.

In sum, it is going to be painful for a lot of sports fans to not have any live games to watch over the next few months, but maybe it’s not the end of the world. With innovative ideas and with competitive esports on the air, maybe sports can enjoy this changing scene.

Note: To learn more, contact Dastrup at [email protected] or Jensen at [email protected]