LAUSANNE: The Olympic Channel will look into engaging with its young audience through esports straight after the Pyeongchang Olympics as the rise of competitive electronic gaming can not be ignored, its executive director Yiannis Exarchos told newswire Reuters.
The Olympic Channel, a digital platform launched after the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Games with a budget of $450 million, was created by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to maintain year-round interest in the Olympic movement and get young people interested in sport. ESports, the competitive side of electronic gaming, has quickly amassed an estimated 250 million players, more than several of the traditional Olympic sports federations combined.
“As a youthful digital platform we cannot ignore the phenomenon of esports,” Exarchos said in an interview. “With the channel after the Games we want to explore the area of esports more deeply.” “We want to explore this direction. We have now a major player as a top partner of the IOC — Intel Corp — very much into esports precisely because Intel has a vision of seeing the Games delivered in a new, smarter and more engaging way.”
The IOC in November recognised esports as a sport, the first clear indication to the growing industry that it wants to link up.
