Players compete at a recent Campus Carball esports tournament at Toronto Metropolitan University.Jayden Halawani
Colin Doyle, 22, grew up going to Toronto Rock lacrosse games and once aspired to be a sports commentator. Doyle was also an avid gamer, constantly playing NHL Slapshot on his Wii before discovering Rocket League, an esports game in which competitors play soccer with rocket-fuelled cars. “Car soccer,” he clarifies for the uninitiated.
Esports are competitive video-game tournaments played live or online for glory and cash prizes. In Canada, there are reportedly 21.2 million active esports players who collectively have won over US$45 million in tournaments. While audiences can stream live games and events on platforms such as Twitch, for Doyle, the high stakes and in-person interactions make esports a thrilling alternative to traditional video gaming. “I did some research and realized, wait, you can play video games professionally?” Doyle says. “That’s so cool.” At one point, his Rocket League player rank was in the top 4 per cent in the world.
In the past few years, professional sports leagues have started leveraging esports to reach younger generations of sports fans who are increasingly immune to advertising and marketing. Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment (MLSE) runs Raptors Uprising, an esports team that plays in the NBA 2K League, an esports league co-launched by the NBA that is soon expanding to include live esports competitions, live events and social media marketing to attract new fans. Similarly, TMRW Sports, the tech company founded by golfers Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy, partnered with the International Golf Federation to explore how to use esports to drive interest in golf.
Melissa Burns, CEO of not-for-profit advocacy organization Esport Canada, draws a contrast between the more passive fan experience of watching a live sports game and the interactive element of an esports game.
“I may love watching Stephen Curry play [basketball], but my chances of actually interacting with him are extremely slim,” she says. “Whereas, if I really love watching the folks from Shopify Rebellion play Valorant, there’s a much higher chance of being able to interact with them directly through the streams and events that they host.” Shopify Rebellion is the esports organization founded by Canadian ecommerce company Shopify, and Valorant is a first-person shooter game. Burns says that pro leagues entering the esports space help foster a direct connection with fans.
Professional sports leagues are struggling to connect with people under the age of 25, a cohort that’s often resistant to traditional advertising and marketing. Geoffrey Lachapelle, who teaches esports at Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU) where he manages the Red Bull Gaming Hub, a gaming facility for students and faculty in video game design, esports and virtual production, says that venturing into esports is a natural step for professional leagues. “If you don’t have a product or a message that speaks to them in a way they’re interested, you will never get through to them,” says Lachapelle. “Video games are something that the majority of Generation Z and Generation Alpha really understand and connect with.”
Doyle is now a sports media student at TMU and the commissioner of Ontario Campus Carball, one of the largest independently run collegiate tournaments for Rocket League in Canada. For the playoffs in April, teams from 14 different postsecondary schools will compete live at TMU’s Red Bull Gaming Hub.
For sports fans and players alike, online tournaments make the thrill of competitive sports accessible from anywhere. “You can always go to a court and shoot around by yourself, but you can’t necessarily start up a game of pickup basketball with other people whenever you want,” says Doyle. “With esports, you can boot up a game and play it in five minutes.”
In-person events also help strengthen social bonds between gamers just as live games do for sports fans. “In-person events really brings the community together and puts a face to a gamer tag,” says Doyle.
