Four Events That Have Heralded A New Virtual Sports Era
Many aspects of our lives have become virtual over the last few months. All forms of communication are pretty much enjoyed through video call these days, while both work and leisure are exclusively digital.
One pastime which has been hit hard by social distancing is sports including football, cricket and many more. Postponements have occurred worldwide with no real sign of when they might return and in some cases our favourite sports stars have even been furloughed.
What that has done has seen the industry be creative, from how we consume sport to how we take part and even how we bet on it!
Step forward virtual sports, simulated matches that aim to replicate real-life, traditional sports events. Virtual sports streaming and virtual sports betting have been around for some time but it wasn’t until now that it’s hit the mainstream and become a real hit amongst fans.
There have been some landmark tournaments over the past few weeks that will take virtual sports into a new era. Below you’ll find some of the very best vsports events that thousands have been enjoying recently…
FIFA UltimateQuaranTeam
With football on hold, there was a real sense of “what do we do now” among football fans, but Leyton Orient stepped up to the plate and created FIFA UltimateQuaranTeam, an Esports competition that saw clubs go head-to-head with each other from around the world.
Wolves eventually won the tournament, in which every fixture was streamed and watched by thousands.
It’s spawned many more FIFA tournaments since and indeed the tournaments which were already fully formed are also now seeing an upturn in fans consuming them.
PDC Home Tour
Kudos has to go to both the PDC Home Tour and Modus Icons Live League which are keeping darts fans entertained across the lockdown.
The PDC Home Tour however is an official competition that sees the best players take each other on every night for 32 days.
It’s priced a huge success so far and has offered plenty of excitement, with Luke Woodhouse throwing a nine dart finish live from his kitchen!
Of course, technology can prove the downfall of some too as Gary Anderson has had to withdraw from the event due to his Wi-Fi signal not being strong enough.
The Virtual Tour of Flanders
While the Tour de France has been rescheduled for August, the Tour of Flanders at the beginning of April went ahead as scheduled, albeit virtually.
The race used high-tech technology hooked up to training bikes to replicate the race, which fans could stream online.
You could follow the race as you would the real thing, while also watching the riders race live from their homes via YouTube.
Greg van Avermaet won the race, and it’s set the stall out for what could be an exciting summer of virtual racing.
Virtual Madrid Open
Tennis is another sport which could see almost the entire season cancelled or postponed, so the Madrid Open are holding their tournament virtually, and a whole host of big names are signed up.
Taking place from April 27-30th, the event will see stars go up against each other from their living rooms via games consoles.
Andy Murray, Dominic Thiem, Karolina Pliskova and Bianca Andreescu are all playing, while Rafael Nadal will also be making an appearance.
We expect more to follow over the summer, and we’d be amazed if there isn’t some form of virtual Wimbledon come June.
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