Next month Roland Garros will be become the first major tennis event in history to host a gaming tournament.
The Roland-Garros eSeries is currently underway across the world. Qualifying tournaments are taking place in China, India, Brazil, France, Great Britain, Belgium, Italy and Spain in the lead up to the finale. The winners from each country, which features 32 participants, will then travel to Paris to play in the finals on May 25th. It is being run by the French Tennis Federation in conjunction with BNP Paribas. The official sponsor of the tournament until at least 2021.
“The French Tennis Federation is delighted to become involved in e-sport alongside BNP Paribas, a loyal partner of the Roland Garros tournament. This initiative confirms the Parisian Grand Slam’s desire to stay at the cutting-edge of technology and operate in this rapidly-growing sector. This tournament will enable us to bring together communities of players who are passionate about tennis and about gaming,” said Stéphane Morel, Deputy Managing Director of the French Tennis Federation’s Strategy and Development Department.
Tennis World Tour is the game being used by the tournament. Created by Breakpoint and Bigben Interactive, players will play the demo version until its release date on May 22nd. In career mode, players will start at 100th in the world rankings. To rise they must compete in a series of exhibition matches and tournaments as well as training. Should they reach No.1, they will be required to defend points in a similar fashion to how it is done on the ATP and WTA tours.
It comes as no surprise that tennis is starting to embark upon the esports industry. The Market intelligence agency Newzoo has reported that the sector is set to smash the $1 billion mark by 2019 in global revenue. They have also forecasted that the total audience in esports gaming will reach 589 million users by 2020. More than double what it was in 2015 (235 million).
Outside of tennis, other sports have already capitalized on the gaming industry. Earlier this year the FIFA 18 FUT Championships in Barcelona attracted more than 100,000 live viewers online. The winner, 16-year-old Donovan ‘DhTekKz’ Hunt, took home $22,000 in prize money. The NBA, the NHL, La Liga in Spain and Germany’s Bundesliga also have their own esport tournaments.
