On March 22, the first eNASCAR iRacing Pro Invitational was held online. This e-sports event replaced the canceled NASCAR competition with a simulated sports format. Top real-life drivers Denny Hamlin and others participated in the event.

文/MERCURYLAMP

TV ratings have reached a new high, and e-sports has opened up a new path for NASCAR.

The epidemic has locked up every arena and track. People today are hungry for sports programs more than ever before. NASCAR, the national sport of the United States, broke through the shackles of hosting games in the form of e-sports during a special period.

On March 22, the first eNASCAR iRacing Pro Invitational was held online. This e-sports event replaced the canceled NASCAR competition with a simulated sports format. Real-life top driver Denny Hamlin and others participated in the event. In the end, the event attracted more than 900,000 viewers on TV channel FS1, setting a viewing record for the channel since March and becoming the highest-rated TV e-sports program to date. Recently, Fox announced that the event will be broadcast live on its multiple channels.

Compared with the popular moba and FPS themes in the e-sports industry, simulated sports e-sports are often more accepted by people in the traditional sports industry. In December last year, the International Olympic Committee stated in the "Declaration of the Eighth Olympic Summit" that simulation e-sports and traditional sports have great potential for cooperation. The International E-Sports Federation, established in the same month, has many core members from traditional sports circles.

With the ratings success of eNASCAR during the special period, National Racing has officially joined hands with e-sports, opening the door for e-sports to move from online live broadcast platforms to cable TV. At the same time, online e-sports has also become the mainstay of traditional sports amid event cancellations. In the field of risk aversion, the epidemic has brought e-sports and traditional sports closer together, and they have seen their mutual value.

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Embedded in traditional sports, simulating new possibilities under the hard quality of e-sports

NASCAR's success in the form of e-sports is not only due to its huge popularity, but also because of its passionate competitive spirit, which complements the strong confrontational form of e-sports. .

originated from the drag racing competition between police and gangsters before World War II. NASCAR's profound historical background makes it known as "American F1". The event continues to this day, with ratings far exceeding traditional sports leagues such as the NFL and NBA, attracting 150 million people to watch the game every year.

NASCAR events continue on a closed ring track, which also makes multi-car collisions a major attraction of the event. As long as an accident occurs between two cars, a large number of players are often involved in the narrow track. The audience demands this passion between life and death, and NASCAR is looked down upon by some traditional racing players because of this. The stalling rear wing of the F1 car greatly slows down the confrontation of the event, and the essence of NASCAR is the hand-to-hand combat with a bayonet.

This format is similar to "violent racing" in video games. Speed ​​is still the main axis of the game, and the biggest attraction that ignites the audience's passion is confrontation. Fast pace and strong competition are the basic forms of e-sports, and they are a perfect match for NASCAR.

eNASCAR eSports’ record of 900,000 viewers is a reflection of the co-production between eSports and NASCAR. Under the control of top racing drivers, the racing cars on the screen can also simulate the excitement of high-speed racing, and all parties do not need to worry about collisions. The similar core and safer form of expression have allowed eNASCAR to be accepted by the TV field that used to belong only to traditional sports. Compared with non-simulation e-sports with a fantasy color, simulation sports are better among new audiences.

Not only in NASCAR, football is also a party that actively embraces e-sports. When UEFA was completely suspended, La Liga and EA Sports held the FIFA 20 La Liga Challenge in March, with stars from various La Liga teams competing. In the end, Real Madrid 's Asensio won the championship. The event was not only broadcast live on Youtube and Twitch, but La Liga broadcast group Deportes 1 Channel and Eleven Sports also put this small-scale exhibition match on TV, with a total of more than 1 million viewers watching through various channels.

It’s no longer as simple as 22 pixel people playing football in the past. In FIFA20, stars using real player face models can be seen everywhere. The stars can be controlled through the handle to make exclusive fancy movements, and the functions of seamless connection under different situations can be explained. The lyrics, exquisite grandstand scenery, unique team anthems and TIFOs of different teams and players make the audience feel like they are visiting the Bernabeu, Old Trafford, and Westphalia in person.

's high-simulation event display is the result of more than 20 years of competition between the two football series FIFA and PES. Character collisions and football movement trajectories closely follow the logic of reality. Players' passing, dribbling, and shooting are as flawed as reality. Years of refinement have made simulated football feel more like controlling real sports than a game.

e-sports joins hands with traditional sports in two "from shallow to deep", one is from shallow to deep the concept of competition, and the other is from shallow to deep the sophistication of the game. The increasing fit of competitive concepts makes it possible for the two to cooperate; also today, when physics engines are becoming more and more realistic, sports games are fully capable of simulating reality, and in judging fouls, the accuracy far exceeds the referee-led VAR of the Premier League.

During the special epidemic period, simulated sports e-sports served as a content supplement to traditional sports and achieved certain results. It can be said that simulation e-sports has been embedded in traditional sports and has become part of the value of sports in the new era.

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is used to fill in the content of traditional sports, which is also the process of the rise of simulation e-sports.

Many events have been suspended, but simulation sports performed by the same group of players have suddenly emerged. During this special period, how to hold the remaining events of traditional sports; how to determine the results of the events; and whether employee wages will be reduced have replaced competitive content as the biggest hot topic in the traditional sports world in March.

The e-sports community demonstrated the standardization of the league at this time. In the non-simulation sports category, large-scale events such as "League of Legends" and "Dota2" are rapidly moving online; in the simulation sports category, FIFA and eNASCAR have become content supplements and new leagues have been established during the traditional sports window period. Although there are huge differences in size, e-sports still has experiences that traditional sports can learn from.

First of all, simulated sports e-sports have demonstrated their ability to fill event content through this epidemic. In today's window period, e-sports can become a supplement to traditional sports and achieve a certain degree of substitution and stop loss for offline sports.

At the same time, the process of using e-sports to expand the content of traditional sports is also an important process for simulated sports and even e-sports as a whole to reach a new level of sports. Through the official authorization of the league, star players' participation in e-sports events can have a subtle impact on TV audiences. The growth of TV audiences has also driven the willingness of TV channels to broadcast e-sports events, helping e-sports attract multi-level sponsors. The development of eNASCAR from being broadcast on FS1 to being followed by all major Fox channels is the most classic example.

E-sports has thus become a new possibility for traditional sports. As an expansion of sports content, simulation e-sports has become the biggest player in the industry. Its in-depth integration with traditional sports will help promote the professionalization, formalization and resources of e-sports. Allocation and player management also have important reference significance. At the end of each traditional league season, there will be an opportunity for simulated e-sports to dominate the event traffic.

Simulated sports e-sports have caught the express train that suits them best. Relying on the operating experience in the professional sports field, they even have the possibility of commercialization beyond the non-simulated e-sports that have been operating for many years. Over the past 20 years, no non-simulation esports event has achieved the level of eNASCAR Day 1 on mass television. It is foreseeable that in the future, e-sports will no longer be exclusively broadcast by new streaming media such as live broadcast platforms, but will be connected to TV. It will become a more popular sports concept, with no cognitive threshold and as simple and easy to understand as traditional sports rules. Create higher value.

Conclusion:

eNASCAR being brought to the TV screen is actually one of the most important achievements of e-sports so far. In the United States, where the development of commercial sports is the strongest, the two-way assistance of national sports IP NASCAR and e-sports has achieved a leap in the e-sports platform level. From new streaming media to traditional media, the expansion of the audience will usher in the largest magnitude to date.

Compared to the 150 million annual viewers, the 903,000 viewers may be nothing. But in any case, it represents a great start for the spread of e-sports at the television level. Combining the most popular traditional sports, simulated sports e-sports are taking off in the fast lane. With this advantage, it will become an important value part independent of e-sports.With the unanimous support of traditional sports people and organizations, overtaking non-simulated e-sports in corners will be achieved.