Is Esports impacting the world of motorsport?

Is Esports impacting the world of motorsport?

Esports is a competitive form of video games, usually done by professional gamers for spectators. It is a fast-growing form of sport, offering a new way to experience motorsport for new and old fans alike, and is arguably much more accessible then real life motorsport.

There are lots of Esports championships in motorsports, with many backed by big real life championships such as NASCAR, Formula 1 and MotoGP.  

It’s no surprise that motorsports, as one of the most technological sports out there, has a strong grounding in the esport world, but is esports influencing the world of motorsport in any way? 

Esports is big and it will only be getting bigger in the future, with the Esports global market expected to grow from $1.45 bn in 2022 to $6.75bn in 2030 as seen by fortune business insights, however COVID shows that Esports has already started making big steps in motorsport. In 2020 when all championships were suddenly put on hold there was a massive rise in viewership following esports championships, according to Nielsen viewership data, NASCAR’s iracing championship boosted to almost 1 million in early 2020 when everyone remained locked down in their homes. This proves that esports championships can be just as avidly followed as real life championships, depending on the circumstances. COVID also saw a lot of real life drivers jump behind the wheel while locked down at home, notably Formula 1 group Norris, Leclerc, Albon and Russell, and in doing this they highlighted just how competitive but also fun esports could be. It was a much more interactive experience, able to see the drivers face over the whole race and having much more commentary and discussion between drivers, which can attract a much larger audience as people feel they can relate to drivers much more. 

Esport Championships

Esport championships seem much more accessible to amateur players then other sports out there, with beginners level championships needing as little as a controller and a console to begin competing even with very little experience and very little expense compared to other motorsport championships. These obviously work their way up to more expert versions of these championships, where it can essentially seem like the player is sitting in the driver's seat of a car or on a bike with a big screen giving the illusion they’re literally on track. These championships are obviously harder to access as the equipment is more expensive and more skill is needed to be able to perform the best in it, however like real life championships, many of the players will start at the bottom and work their way up, gaining money through social media channels or may even gain sponsors or be taken on by an established esports team. 

Due to the wide range of championships, from very early beginner to expert, an equally wide range of people compete in them. While many may be amateur and only picked up a controller fairly recently while others may have been doing real life racing in established championships since they were young. 

Esport championships can also be an avenue into real life racing, for example Cem Bölükbaşı who went from Esport championships into racing for F2, this could see a major impact for the future of motorsport as the avenues into the big championships increase and people with a range of different skills from different background begin to make appearances on track.

 The esports championships that are most popular are the ones backed by the established championships that I mentioned earlier, such as NASCAR, MotoGP and Formula 1, but these are also the ones that are expected to have the most skill and will be the hardest to get into because they have the most money and established audience. However there are loads of championships to be found after some research, whether you’re trying to enter or watch. 

Behind the Scenes

While Esports has created a new avenue for drivers to showcase their skills, and given fans a chance to get a go at the action, it also gives drivers an opportunity to practise tracks and identifying their weak spots so that they can work on them leading up to the weekend, and know what to expect as they enter practice.As Esports gets larger and more popular the demand for more accurate simracing increases, this will not only make for more exciting esport championships but also increase the accuracy for practicing. 

This doesn’t only benefit drivers however, engineers are also able to test new models and adaptations of their cars. This makes the development process quicker and easier, giving the teams more resources and time to develop and perfect their model. 

While this can benefit all drivers in some form or another, it will be the drivers in the most popular, high profile forms of motorsport who will benefit most from what the virtual world can offer as they will have the most advanced or accurate technology to their races. However as the Esport market expands and demand for a wider range of motorsport rises this may shift and we may see more virtual race experiences as less popular series begin to have access to higher budgets and technologies.  

Where can you watch esport motorsports championships?

One of the brilliant things about many esport championships is they’re often free to view, mostly streamed on twitch, facebook, youtube or the organisations website, which in comparison to the expensive subscriptions needed in some areas to watch real life motorsports makes the championships seem much more accessible. 

Is Esports changing motorsports?

While Esports seems to make very little difference on track, other than helping drivers and engineers practise and perhaps put a few new faces on the grid, it can't be denied that it is making some form of impact. Esports does seem to be creating more accessible avenues for competing and viewing motorsports. It also could be used as a way of increasing audiences and reach of motorsports, appealing to a new demographic in the very large market of video games. So while the rules and the general management of a motorsport track may not be impacted by Esports, motorsports as a whole has definitely seen somewhat of an impact during the rise of Esports and will likely continue to see as Esports grows. 

Websites used researching this article

https://www.fortunebusinessinsights.com/esports-market-106820 (accessed 04/02/2024)

https://www.nielsen.com/insights/2020/from-0-to-200-virtual-nascar-takes-over-esports-amid-sports-blackout/ (accessed 04/02/2024)