Racing turns to esports

[Free]

Racing turns hard into esports while the real world is on hold

The drivers love it, everyone's playing nice, and the ratings aren't bad either.

arstechnica.com

When it comes to sports, 2020 is going to be one of those asterisk years, like 1919. People years from now will scroll down the page to a note explaining that "*normal stuff was supposed to happen, but then we had a pandemic instead." The Summer Olympics are being postponed for a year, and pretty much every major sports series is on hold as organizers anxiously wait to see if public gatherings can happen once more later in the year.

Motorsports is no exception, and its prospects are bleak when you consider what collapsing sales will do to marketing budgets. But while the pandemic rages, drivers, teams, and series are coming together online to put on a show for the rest of us. Or as NASCAR's Scott Warfield puts it, to give people "a distraction for 90 minutes, two hours on a Sunday and return some sense of normality to their lives."

I mentioned last week that Fox Sports will start broadcasting esports alternative for NASCAR on the iRacing platform. Interesting times.

 

[Noodles]

My parents watched the first one. They seemed to think it was neat but it wasn't clear if they would watch it again.

 

[Free]

My parents watched the first one. They seemed to think it was neat but it wasn't clear if they would watch it again.

Yeah. Once the novelty wears off, one big question will be what maintains the viewership.

 

[Maitimo]

They did the British Grand National as a virtual race today. I thought it was brilliant.

 

[Free]

First sore loser on the scene.

Bubba Wallace rage-quit a NASCAR esports race, then lost his sponsor

It's all a game, until it isn't.

arstechnica.com

And it's all on Twitter, of course.

 

[Caete]

 

[Robert Jung]

I 'm used to watching f1, Indycar, WEC, and IMSA races on YouTube, but I haven't seen any full race coverage of virtual racing. Perhaps it's a copyright thing.

 

[Sean Gorham]

ABB Formula E's first sim race. Coverage starts at 6:11. Personally, I think IndyCar did it better.

 

[Sean Gorham]

I 'm used to watching f1, Indycar, WEC, and IMSA races on YouTube, but I haven't seen any full race coverage of virtual racing. Perhaps it's a copyright thing.

Here you go, IndyCar sim racing, full coverage. They're doing another one live as I post this.

 

[Veritable Quandry]

Let me know when they start using Mario Cart. I'd watch that.

 

[Noodles]

Let me know when they start using Mario Cart. I'd watch that.

Better yet, Garfield Kart!

 

[Dakota Tebaldi]

First sore loser on the scene.

Bubba Wallace rage-quit a NASCAR esports race, then lost his sponsor

It's all a game, until it isn't.

arstechnica.com

And it's all on Twitter, of course.

LOL that's nothing. Nothing.

Last weekend, Kyle Larson was suspended indefinitely by NASCAR, dropped by most of his sponsors, and fired by his actual RL NASCAR team for what he did during the stream:

Larson was competing in an iRacing event on Sunday when he appeared to lose communication with his spotter on his headset. During a check of his microphone, Larson said, "You can't hear me?" That was followed by the N-word.

Here's the video, if you're interested:


Larson is something of a rising star in the Cup series and he would've been a hot free agent next year but his career has just been torpedoed. Something tells me it's not over, but it should be a long while before he's seeing eight figures again.

 

[Lady Darnk Juniorette]

LOL that's nothing. Nothing.

Last weekend, Kyle Larson was suspended indefinitely by NASCAR, dropped by most of his sponsors, and fired by his actual RL NASCAR team for what he did during the stream:



Here's the video, if you're interested:


Larson is something of a rising star in the Cup series and he would've been a hot free agent next year but his career has just been torpedoed. Something tells me it's not over, but it should be a long while before he's seeing eight figures again.

HEATED GAMER MOMENT!!!

 

[Clara D.]

There should be televised slot car racing.

 

[Caete]

LOL that's nothing. Nothing.

Last weekend, Kyle Larson was suspended indefinitely by NASCAR, dropped by most of his sponsors, and fired by his actual RL NASCAR team for what he did during the stream:



Here's the video, if you're interested:


Larson is something of a rising star in the Cup series and he would've been a hot free agent next year but his career has just been torpedoed. Something tells me it's not over, but it should be a long while before he's seeing eight figures again.

Best keep NASCAR away from SL HUBs!

 

[Caete]

There should be televised slot car racing.

Not quite but 24 hours!