The suspension of local sports leagues such as Kenya Cup, Kenya Premier League, Championship Rugby, Inter-Varsity games, school games add to the list international leagues such as NBA, NHL, EPL, Marathons, Golf events due to the coronavirus is slowly giving Esports (online) a spotlight.

Athletes & celebrities are using online platforms such as twitch to connect with fans, followers and brands. Both competitive and casual play is taking over the social sphere as many people are on lockdown and isolation at home.

The US and Europe sports leagues have seen many athletes, clubs, organization and individual players take to their social media appearing in many video games streams and casual play of various title games.

The Australian Grand Prix that was cancelled got a great social content strategy with Veloce Esports driving a hashtag (#NotTheAusGP). This competitive racing simulation attracted Pro Formula 1 drivers, Esports drivers, Pro soccer players, Youtubers and many other content creators

Esports is slowly positioning itself as an alternative to traditional sports. Sports title games such as FIFA, F1 and Motorsports (WRC) are taking the opportunity to tap into the growing demand for live sports content during this lockdown.

Veloce Esports is organizing a second event to be streamed live on twitch titled (NotTheBahGP) positioning the cancelled live Bahrain Grand Prix.

The esports space will fill in the void left with the absence of daily weekend sports such as the NBA, NHL and soccer leagues across the world. Esports is seeing an opportunity to showcase its strength as an alternative to entertainment, competition and engagement.

“If there was ever a time in sports history that digitally-native forms of entertainment would be top of mind, it’s now”

Ace Pro Gaming will be launching a few numbers of online competition over this period to showcase Kenya’s Esports scene.

The Leyton Orient F.C organized “Quara-Team” challenge is seeking to connect over 70 teams across many different leagues and competitions to play in a FIFA20 Knock out the online competition.