The International Olympic Committee – IOC presents the Olympic Esports Series 2023, a global virtual and simulated sports competition created in collaboration with International Federations (IFs) and game publishers. The Olympic Esports Series 2023 will involve both professional and amateur players from around the world, who are invited to take part in qualification rounds. Latin America is one of the fastest-growing regions for esports and esports betting.
There are nine confirmed sports that will be featured with their respective games in this esports series currently.
- Archery: Game – Tic Tac Bow; governed by World Archery Federation
- Baseball: Game – WBSC eBASEBALL™: POWER PROS; governed by World Baseball Softball Confederation
- Chess: Game – Chess.com; governed by International Chess Federation
- Cycling: Game – Zwift; governed by Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI)
- Dance: Game – JustDance; governed by World DanceSport Federation
- Motor sport: Game – Gran Turismo; governed by Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile
- Sailing: Game – Virtual Regatta; governed by World Sailing
- Taekwondo: Game – Virtual Taekwondo; governed by World Taekwondo
- Tennis: Game – Tennis Clash; governed by International Tennis Federation
In the future, we might see the addition of more games featuring different Olympic sports.
The qualification events are in open format for professional and amateur players from all over the world who want to register for each title. Recall that 250,000 players from a list of more than 100 countries participated in the Virtual Olympic Series which took place ahead of the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020.
The Olympic Esports Series 2023 marks another step in supporting the development of virtual sports within the Olympic Movement, as laid out in Olympic Agenda 2020+5, and continues its collaboration with the gaming and esports communities to create new opportunities for players and fans alike.
Singapore will host the first Olympic Esports Week 2023. Created in partnership with the Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth, Sport Singapore, and the Singapore National Olympic Council (SNOC), the four-day festival will showcase the very best of virtual sports – including technology exhibitions, show matches, expert panel discussions, and the first live finals of the Olympic Esports Series. The full program and ticket details for the Olympic Esports Week 2023 will be revealed in April.
The eSports audience in Latin America reached 55 million people in 2021 and is expected to grow to more than 70 million in 2023. Brazil, Mexico, Argentina, and Chile are the countries where eSports stand out the most in Latin America and the supporters of these countries participate in several events that bring together celebrities and personalities from this sector.
