The problem with money

 

Money is such a fine and fascinating thing, is it not? A great equaliser that cuts through skill, craft and means in order to... well, establish a whole separate class worth of skill, craft and means- but now with in-between currency! So many of the greatest ever to rise has been brought together thanks to the distribution and coalescence of money, as bodies are brought into one, ambitions are taught to soar and the improbable is willed into reality in it's cold pursuit. But it's also pretty much the anti-Christ, isn't it? Money, and it's pursuit, has that tendency to corrupt literally all it touches and I ain't talking about people. I'm talking about art, I'm talking about collaboration, I'm talking about the overall fabric of society in general. And today, I'm talking about Esports.

Now Esports hasn't exactly been in the best of places of late. Well, actually I guess it would really depend on who you ask, now I think about it. The number of Esports teams and tournaments popping up for all manner of competitive game, talent level and proficiency is frankly astounding. To think that we all once ago laughed at Evolve for desperately trying to sell it's game to the Esports crowd before it even hit store shelves when to be honest- that is what sells competitive multiplayer games these days!  Apart from Call of Duty. Call of Duty has it's own gravitational field that summons players to it's doorstep. It's simply the effect of the sweaty shooter- totally inexplicable and undefinable. Nothing you can do about it. But... that doesn't mean Esports is at it's healthiest on a meta level.

Because when we zoom out to the biggest level of Esports, the big games with the big teams, then it looks like a little bit of a graveyard. All the big Esports conglomerates who came out trying to settle into the scene recycling the same basic trad-sports monetisation techniques which turned hobbyists into superstar millionaires- ended up realising the vast difference between digital and physical sports to disastrous effect. Namely they realised that advertising revenue was nowhere near enough to bridge the gap between investment and output, like it is with normal sports. And the results? Most of the big Esports groups that tried to juggle all the popular games at once have fallen apart at the seams, dropping talent, dropping games, juggling liquidation and the worst fate of all- selling their rights back to the hobbyists who started the teams in the first place. So you could argue that is a net positive, but not to the pocket book.

And the pocket book is king. That's where all the eyes are drawn, all the hearts are fed and all the souls ripped from the chests of executives are kept. Therefore when the ol' treasury is looking light you can bet that's when the buttoned-up exec's start turning into straight ravenous animals chomping at any little bite of opportunity no matter who's blood strained hand might be holding the contract. And in that regard- well- to be honest Esports and normal sports aren't all that different. Morality becomes so very murky when multimillion dollar bonus packages start sizzling under your nose- and I'm sure that suffering the odd spitball or two is more than fair enough payment for the surrending of all basic decency. >cough< David Beckham >cough<

But this isn't a dunk on ole Beckham today- no instead I want to point finger at the extreme wealth disparity kingpins. Raid bosses of bad worker conditions. The kings of capitalism. Saudi Arabia, the host country of 2024's ESports World Cup- an event conceived to centralise the medium of Esports as much as possible combing several popular games into one. (Which doesn't make sense when you think about it. It'd be like a world cup event covering Cricket, Football and Tennis at the same time- but again, not the point.) I bet you're wondering if there's any reason why Saudi Arabia was chosen? Why bother, you know. The Crown Prince dropped a stupid prize pool and the organisers went floating after the waft of it like a cartoon dog.

Inclusiveness is already kind of an issue with high level Esports, there are no significant women's teams for a reason. And working towards bridging that gap might go a bit better when so-called scions of the sport aren't saddling up to the kind of folk who spit on their kind. I mean sure- if we're talking pure monetary gain then this could be seen as a lateral move to keep the sport in business- but is it opening up the sport to the world? Is it welcoming in new comers? From different branches? Or is it further insulating Esports in an elitist whirlpool of mega rich benefactors and generalised discrimination? And does anyone care enough to do something about it?

Esports are hardly the only target of this. There was that golf tournament that shimmied it's way off to their luxury pads and I'm just certain once Russia realises it's not getting back into the Olympics they're going to start up their very own counter Olympics with Saudi money- just mark my words. But what's the harm, I hear you say? Well aside from the lives of the ultra poor who are exploited in order to facilitate all this excess- but I suppose we have a blind spot for the strife of those we don't see too often, don't we? How about the spirit of what all sport is about? Professional art and sport is always a balancing act between the monetary gain and the artistry of the craft- but times like these make you feel like that is a tug of war we're losing more than we ever stand to win.

Of course the Esports World Cup has defended their partners with the same vapid affectations you've come to expect in moments like these, but they've lost a little bit of that credibility they once might have maintained. It's never a good look when you're being looked at on the same stage as bloody Fifa- because good lord if money is the Devil than they are a cadre of arch-demons suckling on his goat-milk! In moments like these it helps to take a step back and remember that the things we love are always bigger than the sell out corporations who throw-away their decorum and act like it's for the good of everyone, and maybe the smaller passionate tournaments are worth a watch over the bigger budget wastes of money now and then.