Recognising Esports As A Sport Will Grow The Sector Multifold

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The Indian video game and esports industries have seen significant growth in recent years. This sector has largely gone unnoticed by investors, governments, and brands. Covid has been a boon for this industry, just as it has been for the edtech sector. While the video game and esports industries are expanding, they remain unstructured. This, however, is acceptable. It will take some time to structure itself, as with any new industry.

Key Points of the Esports Sector

While the rest of the world refers to video games (Candy Crush, Fruit Ninja, Fortnite, and the like), gaming apps such as Teen Patti, Rummy, Fantasy Poker, and any other real money gaming, also known as i-gaming platforms, are not included. In India, however, gaming frequently refers to i-gaming. As a result, all of the statistics, media articles, and reports revolve around this definition. This misunderstanding stems from the use of the term "gaming" in the Public Gambling Act of 1867 and other acts based on it, which has now become "online gaming."
Unfortunately, esports has been associated with online gaming, also known as i-gaming, and has ...
... thus been misrepresented. Whenever you read an article about online gaming/i-gaming, you will mostly see images of gamers participating in esports or playing video games such as PUBG or FIFA, and not of gamers participating in real money based games. If this misrepresentation is not corrected immediately, it will have a negative impact on growth.

The Change Movement

With the inclusion of esports in the Asian Games since 2018, where ESFI's esports athlete Tirth Mehta won a Bronze medal for the country, and now that this will be a medal sport in the Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games-22 (Thailand) and Asian Games'22 (China), it is time for the Indian government to recognise esports as a sport. Esports was recently recognised as a professional sport in Thailand, thanks to the efforts of the Thailand Esports Association and the Thai Sports Ministry. More than 30 countries, including our neighbours Sri Lanka, Nepal, and Pakistan, have either recognised esports through their respective sports ministries or through National Olympic Committees. Esports are recognised as a sport by the International Olympic Committee (IOC).

What better time than now to bring up what our country's Prime Minister said? He had stated, “India should tap the huge potential in this area, and lead the international digital gaming sector by developing games that are inspired from Indian culture and folk tales.” To avoid being misunderstood, he was referring to video games rather than i-gaming in this comment. Several reports highlight India's massive esports potential, with approximately 400 million online casual gamers. It is the responsibility of all stakeholders and authorities to capitalise on India's potential and make it the next big esports nation.

The Upside

Recognizing esports is beneficial in a variety of ways. First and foremost, it will help to clarify the distinction between esports and 'i-gaming.' It will give our esports sector legitimacy, and our athletes will begin to gain parental support and societal acceptance. It will also ensure our athletes' well-being and clearly defined career paths. Our athletes are the heart of our sports, and the majority of them are between the ages of 14 and 21. While their peers are pursuing engineering or medical degrees, they are pursuing a different passion and becoming better athletes; however, unlike traditional sports, their shelf-life is too short.

As a result, after retirement, they will only be able to find work in other industries through sports quotas. This recognition will also protect our esports athletes from exploitation and aid in the creation of a welcoming environment. It will encourage brands to create long-term development and engagement plans for esports, as opposed to today, when most brands view esports as merely an activation tool. There is no structure to their engagement with esports or esports athletes for practical reasons. It will result in the establishment of private-public centres of excellence where we can train and upskill our athletes, coaches, referees, and so on. It will encourage Indian video game developers to create more esports-enabled games that are inspired by Indian ethos and culture.

Multiple employment opportunities

Simultaneously, it will aid in the creation of numerous job opportunities such as esports analysts, game designers, VFX/GFX, commentators, event management, esports journalism, coach, trainers, medical, physiotherapists, dieticians, administrators, esports marketing, and so on.

As esports gain traction in India, serious and dedicated foreign investments will flood into the Indian esports ecosystem. It will see the establishment of structured esports arenas throughout India. It will benefit our esports athletes in terms of taxation under the sports category. Unlike traditional sports athletes, our esports athletes' winnings are currently treated as normal income.

The esports community wants and needs the government to recognise esports as a sport in India so that it can receive the same benefits and support as any other sports community and athletes. In India, esports is currently regarded as entertainment rather than sport; the government has yet to recognise it as such. Because of this, esports athletes, organisers, and everyone else involved must pay a 35% entertainment tax, whereas the sports tax in India is 20%. One change from the government can cause a shift that will result in the establishment of an entirely new industry.

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