Rick Fox, celebrated sports figure and owner of esports franchise Echo Fox is set to host a panel run by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the Global Association of International Sports Federations (GAISF) as they team up to discuss esports and educate IOC and GAISF members about the esports industry later this month. The event is not designed to try and organize esports into the current Olympic format however, but rather “It’s more about the engagement of the two communities,” said IOC sports director Kit McConnell to The Esports Observer.
“For esports to be included in the Olympic program, first of all, we would have to deal with a single, recognized federation or body that represented the whole of the esports community, the same way we deal with FIFA for football, the IAAF for athletics, and so on,” McConnell says.
The IOC has also invited representatives from a wide variety of esports organizations and federations, including Kenneth Fok, president of both the Asian Electronic Sports Federation (AESF) and VP of the Sports Federation and Olympic Committee of Hong Kong. Additionally, confirmed attendees include Nicolo Laurent, CEO of Riot Games, Mike Morhaime, president of Blizzard Entertainment, Ralf Reichert, CEO of ESL, Justin Dellario, head of esports at Twitch, Jens Hilgers, founding partner of BITKRAFT Esports Ventures, John Bonini, VP of Intel, Carlos “Ocelote” Rodríguez, Founder and CEO of G2 Esports, as well as a representative from Epic Games, developer of Fortnite.
There is also set to be a discussion later in the day between three athlete representatives from the Olympic Movement and three esports athletes, including Jacob “Jake” Lyon from the Overwatch League team the Houston Outlaws, fellow Overwatch League competitor from the Shanghai Dragons Kim “Geguri” Se-yeon, and former player and current Twitch director of sales and sponsorships, global events Amber Dalton.
The main esports forum is set to discuss various topics within the industry, including governance, media/broadcasting, and investment, as well as the reoccurring issue of violence in videogames. The panel itself will be held at the Olympic Museum in Lausanne, Switzerland on July 21st. For more on Rick Fox and his impact on the esports scene, check out his talk with CNBC’s fast money, here.
