In recent years, Esports has gradually established its indispensable position in the entertainment sector, standing alongside traditional sports. With an estimated total revenue of up to $1.4 billion worldwide in 2020 and having been one of the competitive events in the 30th SEA Games, Esports is attracting significant attention from companies, organizations, and investors.
A prime example of the narrowing gap between esports and traditional sports is the PES ViettelTV Cup, held for the first time. This tournament, organized by Box Sports, gathered 24 players from 6 different countries.
After 51 matches, the local players, cheered on enthusiastically by the audience, created many surprises as they defeated powerful competitors from other countries to reach an all-Vietnamese final. Quang Barca and Thành Mù delivered a breath-taking match to the audience, with a tense score chase. With a final score of 6-4, Quang Barca officially claimed the championship title.
The standout image of the entire tournament belongs to the prodigy Lê Hà Anh Tuấn. The moment tears streamed down the face of the 12-year-old boy proved to society that esports can also evoke deep emotions and deserves to stand alongside other sports.
These elements have contributed to making this tournament a huge success, drawing the attention of many traditional football fans to the PES discipline. Never before in Vietnam has the boundary between esports and real sports become so blurred.
According to statistics from the Organizing Committee, there were 4,123,348 live views with a total of over 354,473 subscribers following the players’ performances. Alongside this, the total viewing time for the ViettelTV Cup reached nearly 40,000 hours.
This success cannot overlook the dedication of the organizing unit: Box Sports Joint Stock Company. With the goal of continuously improving the quality of organization, Box Sports has brought high-quality, thrilling matches to fans with world-class expertise.
Alongside that, there has been a significant contribution from the partner ViettelTV. The two-way digital television application ViettelTV from Viettel Telecom has excelled in enhancing direct audience interaction with the live-broadcasted matches through prize prediction forms. With total prizes for viewers amounting to 400,000,000 VND, ViettelTV has truly created a sensation in the football fan community.
The massive investment of the giant Viettel in esports such as PES or AoV is seen as positive signals for the local esports scene. It is hoped that in the future, not only Viettel Telecom but also many other entities will participate in developing PES in particular and esports in general. Making esports an indispensable spiritual food, recognized and standing alongside other traditional sports disciplines.