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Communication Dans Un Congrès Année : 2019

Digital Age Olympiad: Inclusion of eSports in the Olympics

Joey Gawrysiak
  • Fonction : Auteur
Douglas Manning
  • Fonction : Auteur
Margaret Keiper
  • Fonction : Auteur
Seth E Jenny
  • Fonction : Auteur
  • PersonId : 1151238

Résumé

Esports, or competitive video games, are a form of non-traditional sports that are played around the world and are predicted to become a billion-dollar industry by 2019 (Jenny, Keiper, Manning, & Olrich, 2017; Gawrysiak, 2017; Perez, 2018). With the increase in worldwide popularity and the ability to attract young audiences, esports may be an attractive fit for inclusion in the Olympic Games. With the popularity of Internet streaming, as well as content on ESPN and other mainstream broadcasting companies, the viewership of esports is comparable to many traditional sports, and for a worldwide audience (Grubb, 2015). Further, esports fit in the paradigm of Olympism in that they blend sport with culture and they provide an avenue for "practising sport, without discrimination of any kind and in the Olympic spirit" (Olympic Charter, 2018, p. 11). The rationale given by the IOC for adopting five new sports into the Olympic agenda in 2020 was because they are innovative, a combination of established and emerging, and youth-focused – baseball/softball, karate, skateboard, sports climbing, and surfing (“IOC Approves Five New Sports For Olympic Games Tokyo 2020,” 2016). Esports embodies the same characteristics as the sports adopted in the 2020 Olympics – the difference being that esports utilize technology to manage participant actions, in stark contrast to traditional sport (Gawrysiak, 2016). Research has shown that perceptions of esports as a sport may be changing, which would further support the addition of esports into the Olympics (Garcia & Murillo, 2018). Further, opportunities for inclusion initiatives abound in the Olympic Games, Paralympic Games, and/or the Special Olympics (Special Olympics, 2018), through an accessible climate, embracing differences, and by, “…creating an environment in which participants are not excluded or marginalized” (Team USA, 2018). Conversely, the International Olympic Committee president Thomas Bach feels esports will not be an Olympic sport if they include “killer games” which promote violence that contradict Olympic values (Bach as cited by Wade, 2018). Choosing to utilize the word eGaming, the German Olympic Sports Confederation ('Deutscher Olympischer Sportbund', DOSB) described esports as ‘electronic sports simulations,’ as opposed to an ‘independent sporting activity’ – it does not meet standards to be recognized as sport (DOSB, 2018). This decision was predicated on potential issues related to gaming addiction, “eGaming” violence, and specific gaming publishers’ marketing/financial complications (Ashton, 2018). The presentation will discuss the Fundamental Principles of Olympism and esports; how esports might contribute to diversity/inclusion efforts of the Olympic Movement; as well as where esports fit within the philosophical and sociological definitions of “sport.” Further, gaps in the research will be highlighted with recommendations for areas of inquiry related to esports and the Olympic Games.

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Dates et versions

hal-04015182 , version 1 (05-03-2023)

Identifiants

  • HAL Id : hal-04015182 , version 1

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Joey Gawrysiak, Douglas Manning, Margaret Keiper, Seth E Jenny, Nicolas Besombes. Digital Age Olympiad: Inclusion of eSports in the Olympics. Center for Sociocultural Sport and Olympic Research (CSSOR), California State University, Mar 2019, Fullerton, United States. ⟨hal-04015182⟩
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