LEILA FADEL, HOST:
The second annual Esports World Cup starts today in Saudi Arabia with 2,000 players expected to compete from more than a hundred countries. Last year, the prize pool was $62 million. This year it's $70 million, the biggest prize pool so far for an esports tournament. To tell us more, we're joined by Rod Breslau. He's a longtime esports journalist and analyst. Good morning.
ROD BRESLAU: Hi. Good morning.
FADEL: So for people who aren't esports fans, what is the draw of watching someone else play video games?
BRESLAU: You know, it is very similar to those who like sports.
FADEL: Yeah.
BRESLAU: Most people cannot throw a football 70 yards down the field. They cannot shoot a three-pointer. Most people can't even throw a ball...
FADEL: Right (laughter).
BRESLAU: ...To be completely honest. However, as we see across the world, hundreds of millions of people love to watch people play them professionally. And there are huge events around the world, huge fandom, international fandom, millions of fans, superstar players and tons of money. You can take all of that, and that has been replicated with watching other people be really good at video games.
FADEL: Wow. And so for people who are fans, what are some of the most anticipated matchups and in what games?
BRESLAU: Well, you know, there are a ton of different games here at this event. Saudi Arabia has spent hundreds of millions of dollars to get pretty much every star player, all the big teams...
FADEL: Wow.
BRESLAU: ...And every major video game developer and publisher to all be complicit in this event. So whether if you're a fan of Call of Duty or Valorant or League of Legends or Street Fighter or Tekken or Rocket League, your favorite player or team will be competing this week.
FADEL: How big is the expected audience for the World Cup?
BRESLAU: You know, compared to how much is being invested in the event, not as much as the organizers would want. There still is going to be millions of people that are going to be tuning in, but the boycott and the pushback to the event has reached some. People actually do care about this. So the viewership for these events will - is expected to be lower than the events in these video games that are - like, the national championships that are already happening in these games, those are the ones that are more prestigious and that will be considered to have a bigger audience than this event.
FADEL: OK, so you mentioned the boycott and the controversy around this. I mentioned the World Cup is taking place in Saudi Arabia, which has a record of human rights abuses. What has the conversation and the controversy been about this inside the gaming industry?
BRESLAU: I mean, really it has been that same conversation. People are concerned over the human rights situation there. People who are journalists, like myself, who are not huge fans of Saudi Arabia after Jamal Khashoggi situation.
FADEL: Which was the journalist who was chopped up at a consulate.
BRESLAU: Those who are a part the LBGT (ph) community are fearful of going to the event. There are several players part of the Apex Legends community, professional players, who will not be attending and going because they are fearful of their lives. So there are major concerns that for people who are - criticized Saudi Arabia for their investments into Formula One and wrestling and soccer and football and all these other things, that's only magnified now with how much they own in esports and video games.
FADEL: Yeah, people see it as sportwashing their record. Esports journalist Rod Breslau, thank you so much for your time and your insights.
BRESLAU: Yeah, thank you.
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