Esports world cup: "It has grown, partly driven by the players"

CGTN Europe

CGTN Europe interviewed Tom Cannon, an expert in sports finance and economics at the University of Liverpool.

Transcript

00:00The eSports World Cup is back and this time with a record-breaking prize pot, a total of 70 million US dollars.

00:08This year's contest will see 2,000 elite players competing from some 200 clubs across the globe.

00:15China is sending 22 teams, including the 2024 Valorant Championship winner, EDG, or Edward Gaming Esports,

00:23now a multi-billion dollar industry. It's a medal sport at the Asian Games.

00:30Professor Tom Cannon is an expert on sports finance and economics at the University of Liverpool.

00:37Great to have you on the programme, Tom. So look, there's a record prize pot at this tournament.

00:42How has eSports grown into big business?

00:47It's grown up partly driven by the players. The players have got to actually build this sport up.

00:52And what's been realised in recent years is actually if you can crystallise their commitment to the Games

00:58into a sporting event, you've suddenly got a world-class competition.

01:03And that's what's taking place in Saudi Arabia.

01:05And I don't think the potential is being exploited fully yet.

01:09But it's the gamers, it's the players, it's the people who are dedicated to this sport and making it successful.

01:16So they're elite athletes. This is a long way away from that stereotypical vision of, you know,

01:22teenage boys not eating much or getting much daylight.

01:27Absolutely. I mean, you look at some of the stars, you're talking about stars who've earned, I don't think,

01:32over the last few years, the number one star, I think, is from Scandinavia.

01:36I think he's earned about seven or eight million dollars from it.

01:40And then you look at the runners-up, I think there's one from the Ukraine, he's worth about four million dollars.

01:45And you're talking about million-dollar sportsmen.

01:48You're talking about also a remarkable growth in the number of women participants.

01:52So it's not teenage boys, it's teenage girls as well.

01:55Obviously, they're not earning the millions yet, but there's at least one teenage sportswoman

02:00who's close to half a million dollars in earnings.

02:03So it's not teenage boys anymore that might be slightly older than teenagers.

02:09And that's also changing in terms of the profile of participants.

02:13So that's the profile of the participants.

02:15Let's talk about the platform that is entertaining this phenomenon.

02:19How does the eSports World Cup align with Riyadh's overall sports strategy?

02:26Well, it aligns in two ways.

02:28First of all, they want to be a global leader in sport,

02:31which is why they're keen to get physical participation sports like soccer there.

02:37They want to be a global leader in that side.

02:40And on the other end of the spectrum, you might argue, they're eSports.

02:44And don't forget, in many ways, becoming a global leader in eSports could be even more effective for them.

02:50Because basically, the kind of technologies, the kind of infrastructure you need for eSports

02:56is far more appropriate to a country like Saudi Arabia than, you know, enormous stadium

03:02with all the construction involved, large numbers of people actually working in the sport.

03:07Whereas a technology-based sport, which has got these kind of growth figures,

03:12fixing much better with what might appear to be a sensible growth strategy for Saudi Arabia.

03:18And that's what they want to have.

03:20They want to have growth sports and they want to be selective to some degree.

03:24But they want to be global leaders.

03:26And they're global leaders already in this sport.

03:30Well, we're going to have to leave it there, I'm afraid.

03:32Professor Tom Cannon at the University of Liverpool.

03:35Brilliant talking to you. Thank you.

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