For sports fanatics, these are trying times.
It may seem trivial compared to the coronavirus, but we as a society have always needed sport as a release. It serves as a distraction, as an escape from what can sometimes feel like an endless flow of fear and dread. For just a brief moment, sport allows you to forget about those problems in the world that you're powerless to control and instead get swept up in an insignificant drama that means the world to you.
Coronavirus has led to the shutdown of every single sporting event in the world. Even the most famous Formula One race in Monaco just got canceled (Monaco's prince himself caught the virus), and fans are going stir crazy, stuck in self-quarantine… desperate for a distraction.
Luckily… There is one sport that is ready to provide just that. The only major sport that has found a way to get in front of its fans even while they are locked away at home.
The sport is racing, and the innovative company we have to thank for its return is Torque Esports.
Sports fanatics, brace yourself. Your favorite distraction is about to return, and it's got a new twist.
The Race All-Star Esports Battle is a simulator racing event that includes drivers from Formula One, IndyCar, Formula E, and e-racing professionals. It is a unique event that allows us to see who the best driver in the world really is. The debate has raged amongst racing fans for years, with F1, NASCAR and IndyCar all having claims to being the most difficult form of racing. Well soon, we may have a definitive answer.
The inaugural Race All-Star Esports Battle took place last Sunday and broke almost every record going for esports racing live. The race itself saw more than 23 years of combined content consumed and had 30,000 comments from fans.
Aside from attracting more than one million viewers, the race featured some of the most famous drivers, with Formula One star Max Verstappen, Indy 500 winner Simon Pagenaud and FIA Formula E points leader Antonio Felix da Costa all taking part. But experience showed in the end when the race was won by esports racer Jernej Simoncic.
The Biggest Racing Event Of The Season
This week, the race is on and the superstars are back to get their revenge, with Max Verstappen and Antonio Felix da Costa returning alongside names such as world-famous F1 driver Juan Pablo Montoya, and IndyCar champion and Indy500 winner Tony Kanaan.
If you had any plans this coming Saturday then cancel them. Racing season is back on, and it's going to be unlike anything you've ever seen.
Click here to get details on tomorrow's race.
The Esports Boom
Esports has exploded in the last few years, with Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) buying industry leader Twitch for nearly $1 trillion. Though there's little information on the true numbers that Amazon generated from the deal, with over 2.7 billion hours streamed in a single quarter in 2019, it's safe to say that it's a pretty decent amount.
And as esports continues to explode, one of the biggest game publishers in the world, Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ:EA), is trying something a little different. EA is launching a cloud streaming service, Project Atlas, that will allow players to stream games directly onto their game platforms. A surprise trial of the project occurred on September 9. The service is meant to compete with Google's (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Project Stream, the building block for a service called Stadia.
And major brands like Pepsi and Nike are already trying to get in on the action.
PepsiCo. (NYSE:PEP), for its part, has become the exclusive non-alcoholic beverage provider across aa number of Madison Square Garden properties, including Counter Logic Gaming, one of the leading North American esports organizations. Nike (NYSE:NKE) signed a four year sponsorship deal with the League of Legends Pro League. As part of the deal, the company announced that it will be analyzing competitors and even working on custom-training regimens to help keep players healthy.
By. Josh Owens of Oilprice.com
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