Brazil enters Olympic esports as the IOC looks for a new model for digital competitions
Brazil, through its Olympic committee, has begun entering the field of esports more systematically at a time when the International Olympic Committee is trying to define how digital competitions will fit into the Olympic movement in the long term. The topic is no longer only a question of the popularity of video games, but also a question of sports governance, work with young audiences, commercial partnerships, competition rules and relations with game publishers. According to an announcement by the Brazilian Olympic Committee, e-sports were presented in the summer of 2025 to COB employees at the Time Brasil Training Center as part of a broader plan by which the Brazilian Olympic system wants to prepare for a new form of international competitions. That move comes after the IOC approved the creation of the Olympic Esports Games in July 2024, giving digital competition, for the first time, a separate institutional framework within the Olympic system.
This is an area that is changing quickly and in which the initial plans are still being coordinated. The IOC initially announced cooperation with Saudi Arabia and the first edition of the Olympic Esports Games, and then in February 2025 announced that the first edition should be held in 2027 in Riyadh. But according to the IOC's official statement from October 2025, that cooperation with the Saudi Olympic and Paralympic Committee and the Esports World Cup Foundation was ended by mutual agreement, with the announcement that a new partnership model is being sought. For that reason, Olympic esports, according to the available information, is between political confirmation and operational redefinition: the project has not been abandoned, but it no longer has the same implementation framework that had previously been announced.
Brazil does not want to wait for the final Olympic format
The president of the Brazilian Olympic Committee, Marco La Porta, said in the COB announcement that esports is a topic that opens a broad discussion and provokes different opinions, but that it should be addressed in an organized and intelligent way. He emphasized that the Brazilian committee cannot wait for the IOC's final direction, especially in a period of leadership change in the international Olympic system. This has positioned the Brazilian approach as preparatory rather than reactive: the goal is not merely to respond once all the rules have been established, but to build, already now, the knowledge, structure and contacts needed for possible future competitions.
Such an approach is especially important because Olympic esports does not depend only on sports federations. Unlike traditional Olympic disciplines, competitive video games usually have private publishers, rights holders, special leagues, their own technical rules and global communities of players. The IOC must therefore find a model that will satisfy Olympic values, sporting integrity, protection of competitors, gender equality, anti-doping and safety standards, as well as the commercial interests of the gaming industry. National Olympic committees, including the Brazilian one, must decide in such a system how they will identify talents, with whom they will cooperate and which digital disciplines they will consider a sporting priority.
In that sense, COB has already begun building internal capacity. According to the committee's announcement, a special manager, Schubert Abreu, has been appointed for esports, and the area of special sports projects is preparing a strategy for Brazil's approach to this sector. It was also announced that virtual rowing has been included as a pilot project at the school games in Brasília in 2025, which shows that the first steps are not related only to the professional esports scene, but also to the development and educational system. Such a model is closer to the Olympic way of thinking because it connects technology, sporting activity and young competitors, instead of viewing esports exclusively as a professional gaming market.
Three categories of digital competition
One of the more important parts of the Brazilian plan is the distinction between types of digital sports activities. According to the explanation that COB presented to employees, in the Olympic context one can distinguish virtualized sports, gamified sports and competitive video games. Virtualized sports refer to disciplines in which real physical effort is transferred into a digital environment, for example in cycling, rowing, running, tennis, triathlon or taekwondo. In such formats, technology serves as a competitive medium, but measurable physical performance is still required.
The second category includes sports simulations, that is, digital versions of traditional sports played on computers, consoles or mobile devices. These may include football, basketball, tennis, baseball, motorsport or other disciplines that already have recognizable sports structures and international federations. In this group, the key issue is the relationship between sports federations, licence holders and game publishers, because the digital version of a sport often depends on a commercial product, rather than on rules independently prescribed by a sports federation.
The third category refers to competitive video games that are not necessarily a digital copy of a traditional sport. COB cites titles such as League of Legends, Dota 2 and Counter-Strike as examples, while other games with developed professional scenes are often mentioned in the broader international conversation. This category is the most sensitive for the Olympic movement because it includes violent, fantastical or highly commercially shaped content that does not always fit easily into Olympic language. Precisely for that reason, the IOC must align the desire to access huge digital communities with the rules and values associated with the Olympic brand.
The IOC has opened the door, but is still looking for the final architecture
The International Olympic Committee has been gradually testing digital competitions for several years. The Olympic Virtual Series was held in 2021, and the Olympic Esports Week in Singapore in 2023 served as a broader experiment with competitions, presentations and the linking of the Olympic movement with gaming communities. After that, in July 2024, the creation of the Olympic Esports Games was unanimously supported at the IOC Session in Paris. According to official IOC announcements, the goal was to open a new chapter of the Olympic movement and create a separate event for digital competitions, instead of immediately fitting them into the programme of the Summer or Winter Olympic Games.
The initial model was linked to Saudi Arabia, a country that in recent years has been investing heavily in sport, entertainment and esports as part of a broader economic strategy. In 2024, the IOC announced a partnership with the Saudi Olympic and Paralympic Committee, and in February 2025 it was announced that the first edition of the Olympic Esports Games should be held in 2027 in Riyadh. However, the official statement from October 2025 changed that framework: the IOC and the Saudi partners announced that they were ending cooperation on that project and that work would be done on a new model.
This change does not mean that Olympic esports has disappeared from the plans. In the same statement, the IOC said that it remains committed to the long-term vision of the Olympic Esports Games, but that the new model will include the conclusions from the review period. In other words, the institutional decision to accept esports still stands, but the format, partners, host and calendar have not yet been finally confirmed. For national Olympic committees, this creates both a risk and an opportunity: whoever ties themselves too early to one format may make a mistake, but whoever waits completely may lose time in developing expertise and a competitive base.
Why Brazil is important in this discussion
Brazil is a large and influential market for digital games, and COB in its announcement cites data from the Pesquisa Game Brasil survey according to which 82 percent of the Brazilian population consumes digital games in some way. The same announcement states that almost three out of four respondents in Brazil believe that the emotions experienced while following esports can be comparable to those of a traditional sports match, while more than 80 percent of them accept the idea that an esports athlete can be a person who pushes their own limits. These data do not by themselves prove that esports should be an Olympic discipline, but they show why it is becoming increasingly difficult for national Olympic committees to pretend that digital competition does not exist.
Brazil also has a practical sporting interest. COB representatives in the announcement emphasize that the country already has players with internationally notable results in disciplines that could have potential for the future Olympic esports programme. In the Olympic system, early preparation is often decisive because it includes talent identification, coaching staffs, logistics, psychological support, analytics, work with young people and alignment with international rules. If Olympic esports receives a stable format, national committees that have built a structure in advance could have an advantage.
The commercial dimension is also significant. COB states in its announcement that the IOC's decision opens new opportunities for partnerships and potential sponsors in a market it describes as very large and growing. Such claims should be viewed with caution because estimates of the value of the gaming and esports market differ depending on methodology and on whether hardware, software, advertising, broadcasts, sponsorships or broader digital consumption are included. But the basic trend is not disputed: younger audiences are spending more and more time on digital platforms, and sports organizations are looking for ways to remain relevant in such a media environment.
Challenges: rules, publishers, integrity and Olympic values
The biggest challenge for Olympic esports is not only the question of whether audiences will watch the competitions. The key question is who determines the rules. Traditional sports have international federations which, despite all the problems of governance, still have a sports structure, disciplinary mechanisms and long-term calendars. In esports, the rules often depend on the game publisher, software changes, character balancing, commercial leagues and licensing agreements. This means that the Olympic movement must cooperate with private companies, while at the same time preserving the independence of the competition and the credibility of medals.
The second challenge concerns the content of games. Some of the most watched esports titles include combat, weapons or violent elements, which can be a problem for the Olympic context. In earlier phases, the IOC therefore often gave priority to virtual sports and simulations that are closer to existing Olympic disciplines. However, if Olympic esports is limited only to digital copies of traditional sports, it risks failing to attract the core global esports audience. The balance between Olympic acceptability and real esports relevance will be one of the central questions of every future programme.
The third challenge concerns the protection of competitors. Professional esports includes young players, intense training, psychological pressure, risks of burnout, issues of contracts, player migration and competition integrity. If national Olympic committees enter this area, they will have to develop standards that go beyond performance in the game itself. This includes education, prevention of match-fixing, rules on betting, health care, transparent selection of national teams and clear criteria for participation.
Accepting esports does not mean the end of traditional sport
The debate about esports is often presented as a conflict between digital and traditional sport, but the moves of the IOC and COB point in a different direction. The Olympic movement is not trying to replace athletics, gymnastics, swimming or team sports with video games, but to open a separate space for competitions that already have a global audience. The creation of separate Olympic Esports Games is precisely a way to avoid a premature mixing of the programmes of the Summer and Winter Games with completely different digital formats.
Brazil is therefore an interesting example of a national committee that is trying to accept change, but place it within its own sports structure. The inclusion of virtual rowing in school games shows a cautious and developmental approach, while the appointment of an esports manager and the preparation of a strategy show that the topic is no longer marginal. The statement by COB's leadership that Brazil does not intend only to participate, but to compete for the top, reflects an ambition typical of major sporting countries when they recognize a new international scene.
For the IOC, the next step is more complex. After the end of the Saudi model, it is necessary to answer questions about the host, financing, rights, the choice of games and relations with publishers. Until that process is completed, national committees such as Brazil's will probably continue to build knowledge and test individual disciplines within their own systems. In this way, esports is entering a phase in which it is no longer only an external industry that the Olympic movement observes from the sidelines, but an area for which jobs, strategies, pilot projects and sporting ambitions are already being created.
Sources:
- Comitê Olímpico do Brasil – announcement on the presentation of plans for e-sports at the Brazilian Olympic Committee and statements by COB leadership (link)
- International Olympic Committee – official page on the Olympic Esports Games and the decision to create the new competition (link)
- International Olympic Committee – announcement on the approval of the creation of the Olympic Esports Games at the 142nd IOC Session (link)
- International Olympic Committee – announcement on the plan for the first edition to be held in 2027 in Riyadh and the start of the road to the Games (link)
- International Olympic Committee – statement on the end of cooperation with Saudi partners on the Olympic Esports Games project and the announcement of a new model (link)