Is Esports a Sport? What the Definitions, the Science and the Olympics Say
I've spent more than 25 years working in and around technology. Gaming from the early 1990s when competitive play was only just taking hold, so I've watched esports grow from a niche pastime into a professional industry with leagues and world championships.
Esports players train in teams, follow coaches, compete under referees and win medals at multi-sport games, yet many people still won't call it sport. In 2017 the International Olympic Committee said competitive esports could be considered a sporting activity, while Australia's national sport policy still leaves it out. It's the same question we asked about chess boxing, on a much bigger stage.
Key Takeaways:
Definitions decide the answer: Australia's national framework stresses physical exertion or skill, while the Australian Sports Commission's description of sport focuses on competition, rules and a recognised organising structure.
The physical load is light: A 2026 systematic review found the energy cost of gameplay is low, in line with light physical activity, although the nervous system responds strongly.
It already wins medals: Esports was a medal sport at the 2022 Asian Games, and the 2026 Asian Games in Aichi-Nagoya held 11 esports medal events.
Recognition varies by country: South Korea and China recognised esports early, Sweden's sports confederation refused recognition in 2021, and Australian government policy does not recognise it.
The Olympic plan is on hold: The IOC ended its Saudi Arabia hosting deal in October 2025 and suspended its Esports Commission in May 2026, and no new date has been announced.
Nobody owns football, but someone owns every esport: Game publishers control the rules and the titles, which is the biggest structural difference from traditional sport.
Table of Contents
How Sport Is Defined
There is no single legal definition of sport, so the answer depends on who is doing the defining. In Australia, the Parliamentary Library notes that the National Sport and Active Recreation Policy Framework (2011) defines sport with an emphasis on physical exertion or skill, which generally excludes esports. The same paper points out that Sport 2030, the national sport plan released in 2018, does not mention esports at all.
The Australian Sports Commission's Clearinghouse for Sport takes a more practical view. It describes sport as activity where performance is compared against others or a recognised standard, played under known rules, with a recognised organisational structure overseeing it. Esports meets all three of those conditions. The Clearinghouse also reports research commissioned by the Commission in 2022, which found that people's personal views of what counts as sport vary widely.
So I would argue that the disagreement is less about esports than about which test you apply. If physical exertion is required, esports struggles. If competition, rules and organisation are what matter, it passes.
The Case for Calling Esports a Sport
Competition and structure. Esports has leagues, seasons, coaches, referees, transfer markets and world championships. Players train as teams and are ranked against each other under published rules. In October 2017, the IOC's Olympic Summit agreed that players prepare and train with an intensity that may be comparable to traditional athletes.
Mind sports already count. The IOC recognised FIDE, the world chess federation, at its 109th Session in Seoul in 1999. If chess can be a recognised sport without physical exertion, the argument goes, so can a strategy game played on a screen.
Governments treat players as athletes. According to the history summarised on Wikipedia's esports page, South Korea began licensing professional players in 2000 and China recognised esports as a sport in 2003. In 2013 the United States issued a P-1A visa, the category for internationally recognised athletes, to a professional League of Legends player.
It is open to more people. A game controller can be adapted far more easily than a playing field. Organisations such as AbleGamers help players get adaptive equipment so they can play, which fits the same goal as adaptive sport.
The Case Against
Physical exertion is low. For many people, sport means using your body to its limit, and esports does not do that. Research on gameplay puts it at the level of light physical activity.
Nobody owns football. Every esport is a commercial product owned by a publisher, which controls the rules, decides who can run tournaments and can change or retire the game. Traditional sports are run by federations that answer to their members. That ownership problem is one reason the IOC has found esports hard to absorb, a point argued in the Harvard Journal of Sports and Entertainment Law.
Violent titles are a sticking point. According to Wikipedia's summary, the IOC has raised concerns about games built around shooting and killing, and has said it would favour games that simulate real sport. Many of the most popular esports are shooters, so even supporters of esports disagree about which games should count.
Recognition has been refused. In June 2021 the Swedish Sports Confederation declined to recognise esports as sport. In Australia, as the Parliamentary Library notes, esports has no recognition in government sport policy.
What Happens to the Body During a Match
A 2026 systematic review in Sports Medicine Open by Kotas and colleagues found that energy expenditure and heart rate rise during play, more so for professionals than amateurs, but stay modest.
"the overall metabolic demands remain relatively low, consistent with light physical activity" — Kotas et al., Sports Medicine Open, 2026
The nervous system responds more strongly. A 2026 meta-analysis of 12 studies in Frontiers in Physiology found that two key measures of heart rate variability drop significantly during gameplay compared with rest, a sign of a stress response even though players are sitting still. An earlier scoping review in Sports Medicine identified 33 studies on esports and health, with physiological demand one of the most studied topics.
Esports asks a lot of reaction time, decision-making and stress control, and very little of the heart and muscles. Whether that makes it sport depends on the definition you started with.
Where the Line Blurs: Virtual and AR Sport
Virtual sport powered by the rider. On cycling platforms such as MyWhoosh and Zwift, riders pedal real bikes on smart trainers, and their power output moves an avatar around a virtual course. The UCI, cycling's world governing body, has run official Cycling Esports World Championships since 2020, first on Zwift and now on MyWhoosh, and the 2025 edition was held in Abu Dhabi.
Augmented reality sport. In HADO, launched in 2016 by Japanese company meleap, players wear a headset and an arm sensor and move around a real court, throwing virtual energy balls and raising virtual shields. Teams of three score by hitting their opponents during 80-second matches. According to the Government of Japan, HADO is played in more than 40 countries and regions, and the Games of the Future in Abu Dhabi featured it in 2025.
Both pass the physical exertion test that screen esports fails, because the player's body does the work, but they differ on ownership. Cycling esports has a recognised federation crowning its world champions, while HADO is a format owned by the company that created it, as Hyrox is.
For more on how the technology is used to train, play and watch, see our guide to augmented reality in sport.
Where Esports Already Counts as Sport
Multi-sport events have moved faster than national sport bodies, according to Wikipedia's esports history and the Parliamentary Library:
2018 Asian Games, Jakarta-Palembang: Esports appeared as a demonstration event.
2022 Asian Games, Hangzhou (held in 2023): Esports became a full medal sport for the first time.
2022 Commonwealth Games, Birmingham: Esports ran as a demonstration event.
2023 Olympic Esports Week, Singapore: The IOC's own four-day finals event, held in June.
2026 Asian Games, Aichi-Nagoya: Eleven esports medal events were held from 22 September to 2 October, covering titles such as League of Legends, eFootball and Gran Turismo 7.
The Olympic Esports Games: Where Things Stand
The Olympic Esports Games project has changed direction several times:
October 2023: The IOC announced its intention to create an Olympic Esports Games.
July 2024: The IOC approved a plan for Saudi Arabia to host the inaugural Games.
February 2025: The first Games moved from 2025 to 2027, still in Riyadh.
30 October 2025: The IOC and Saudi Arabia ended the agreement by mutual consent, with the IOC saying it would pursue a new approach.
May 2026: The IOC suspended its Esports Commission as part of a wider restructure under new president Kirsty Coventry. Coventry later said the Olympic esports plans were still alive but under review, with oversight moved to her office.
At the time of writing, the IOC has not announced a new date, host or format for an Olympic Esports Games.
Who Governs Esports
Esports has no single governing body, and the publishers who own each game hold much of the real power. Two international federations compete for the role:
International Esports Federation (IESF): Formed in 2008, it lists more than 140 member nations and runs world championships for national teams.
Global Esports Federation (GEF): A newer federation that also sanctions events for national teams.
National bodies include:
Australia: The Australian eSports Association is a member of the IESF and partners with the GEF, according to the Parliamentary Library. Universities including QUT and UniSA support esports clubs and players.
United Kingdom: British Esports is the national esports federation. It runs the Student Champs competition for schools and colleges and a national performance campus in Sunderland.
United States: Organised play is run mainly by publishers, tournament organisers and collegiate programs rather than a single national federation.
If you or your child want to compete, the most practical starting point is a school, university or club league for the specific game you play, because each publisher sets the rules for its own game.
Final Thoughts
I come at this from a site that has written about chess boxing, cycle ball and underwater hockey, so I'm not inclined to draw the line narrowly. By the Australian Sports Commission's own test of competition, rules and organisation, esports qualifies. By the national framework's emphasis on physical exertion, it does not, and the research to this point does back that up.
The fairest answer is that esports is a competitive discipline that some sport bodies count and others don't, and the Asian Games have already settled it for their own purposes. I feel that what would change the argument most is ownership. Until a game can be played and governed without a publisher's permission, esports will sit beside traditional sport rather than inside it. For more on how technology is reshaping sport, see our look at the future of sports technology.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
Q: Is esports an Olympic sport?
A: No. The IOC planned a separate Olympic Esports Games, but its Saudi Arabia hosting deal ended in October 2025 and its Esports Commission was suspended in May 2026. No new date has been set.
Q: Is esports recognised as a sport in Australia?
A: Not by government sport policy. The national framework emphasises physical exertion or skill, and Sport 2030 does not mention esports. The Australian eSports Association promotes the sport and is a member of the International Esports Federation.
Q: Do esports players need to be physically fit?
A: Gameplay itself is light physical activity, so fitness is not what wins matches. Research does show a measurable stress response during play, so concentration and composure under pressure matter a great deal.
Q: If chess is a sport, why isn't esports?
A: Chess has a member-run world federation that the IOC recognised in 1999. Each esport is owned by a publisher that controls the rules, which makes recognition by traditional sport bodies much harder.
Q: Is esports at the Asian Games?
A: Yes. Esports was a medal sport at the 2022 Asian Games in Hangzhou, and the 2026 Asian Games in Aichi-Nagoya held 11 esports medal events.
Q: How can someone start competing in esports?
A: Start with a school, university or club league for the game you already play. In the UK, British Esports runs the Student Champs for schools and colleges.
