Do you believe that anything can replace the roaring of the crowd inside a packed stadium? There aren’t any replacements for it because you don’t hear it: you feel it. The announcer on the PA energizes the crowd to a crescendo with techno music pumping in the background and lights strafing over everyone’s heads. Many figures at a distance file onto the stage while sitting in front of keyboards and PC screens. They also have powerful headphones over their ears to prevent the noise created by thousands of people chanting their names. Today, all this is a story of the past. The outbreak of COVID-19 changed the world forever.
The basics
The enforcement of lockdowns led to the rise of e-sports. People found them easier and quicker to adapt than their mainstream cousins. Despite the upheaval, setting up a virtual event was like taking a step backward instead of a head-to-toe redesigning. It’s safe to say that this particular approach doesn’t match mainstream sports. Video games, such as Counter-Strike led to the filling up of stadiums only in the last decade. Before that, e-sport matches took place on the internet. Qualifying rounds for tournaments still exist. In such a situation, real sports teams found it difficult to adjust. However, a few were in a good position compared to others.
An advantage
While motorsports have one obvious advantage, other sports don’t have them. For instance, if you play with the digitized version of Lionel Messi in FIFA, then you’ll realize that it’s nothing like the real player. After all, football goals in a real stadium are than just the flick of a joystick or the tap of a button. Racing simulators, on the other hand, are much more realistic. They appear as the perfect facsimile of the real deal. Game developers scan the tracks using laser systems. They analyze every bump and curve. The player doesn’t experience the same gravitational forces, but the audience believes that it’s almost similar.
A popular mode of entertainment
What people are watching isn’t like the e-sports that you generally get inside the Spodek arena or on the game-streaming website called Twitch. If someone presents hardcore e-sports in front of an audience, then the player won’t be able to connect with them. That’s why both developers and players tweak the product to add a touch of entertainment. Gfinity is a game development company that created a Formula One racing game. More than 30 million people watched players playing the game during the lockdown. Due to this success, Gfinity is going to bring a new type of event that is a blend of regular sports, e-sport, and celebrity reality show.
Final words
Now, real sports teams, promoters, and broadcasters are always in search of new ways to attract fans and sponsors. If they learned nothing from this crossover that took place over the last three months, then they still don’t know that it’s a wasted opportunity. It would be stupid if someone just scoots backs to the real world and abandon all those accounts they created on Twitch. It’s like leaving a ghost stadium behind on the internet.
