Conor English: New Zealand Esports President on the first ever Olympic Esports Games confirmed for next year

Kiwi Esports athletes will be heading to Saudi Arabia next year to compete in the first-ever Olympic Esports games. 

The International Olympic Committee voted unanimously for Saudi Arabia to host the Games in 2025 reflecting the growth in popularity of competitive gaming. 

The decision comes as Riyadh hosts the Esports World Cup – a two-month event drawing 2,500 gamers competing for NZ$100 million in prize money. 

New Zealand Esports President Conor English joined Ryan Bridge. 

LISTEN ABOVE 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Right now we have the all Blacks, but have you
heard of the e Blacks? Here we e sports athletes
are going to be heading to Saudi Arabia next year
to compete in the first ever Olympic Esports Games. The
International Olympic Committee voted unanimously for Saudi Arabia to host them.
The decision comes as Read hosts the Esports World Cup,
a two month event drawing two and a half thousand

(00:21):
gamers competing. Forget this, one hundred million New Zealand dollars
in prize money. It's massive. Connor English is the president
of New Zealand Esports and he's with me now, Connor.

Speaker 2 (00:30):
Good morning. Are you good?

Speaker 1 (00:33):
So is this going to be like an official Olympics
endorsed thing.

Speaker 2 (00:38):
Yes it is. Yeah, it's a whole new Olympic competition
that's been created. So you'll have the Summer Olympics, the
Winter Olympics, and then the Esports Olympics and they're likely
to be in rotation over the four years.

Speaker 1 (00:53):
What do we like at esports? How many full time
athletes do we have, if any?

Speaker 2 (00:58):
We don't have a lot of full time athletes, but
we do have some very good athletes. Esports as a
sort of structured sport if you like is you know,
it's a growing area of sports in New Zealand and
we're getting as the New Zealand Esports Federation. We've been
putting in frames, for example, across the schools to help

(01:21):
have integrity and the competitions and to build pathways for
athletes to you know progress. And now that we've got
this Olympic Games opportunity, then we'll be looking at how
we build pathways towards the Olympic Games for athletes.

Speaker 1 (01:38):
It must be one of the sports that has flushed
with money, is it. I mean, it just seems every
time we talk about esports it's always something one hundred
million dollars.

Speaker 2 (01:49):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, Well, I think what we know is that,
you know, gaining in esports has really grown, and you're
seeing you know a lot of movies now turning into
into esports games and often there's more money in the
gaming than what there is in the movies. So there
is a lot of money in the sector. We also
know that the participation rates are growing very substantially and

(02:12):
very quickly. If you talk to anyone younger than you
and I Ryan, a lot of those people have been
playing gaming in some shape or form, so participation is
very high and now we're just moving through to having
more structured competitions, so there is a lot of money
in that, because there is a lot of money in gaming.

Speaker 1 (02:32):
Connor, thanks for your time this morning, and good luck
with the Olympics. That's Connor English.

Speaker 2 (02:37):
For more from News Talks B listen live on air
or online, and keep our shows with you wherever you
go with our podcasts on Irradio