Desperate e-sports fans in ticket-grabbing frenzy at Asian Games
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South Korean eSports star Lee "Faker" Sang-hyeok will compete at the ongoing Asian Games in the League of Legends category.
PHOTO: AFP
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Hangzhou – E-sports tickets costing up to 1,000 yuan (S$190) are like gold dust at the Asian Games, with desperate fans signing up multiple times through a lottery system in hope of seeing their gaming heroes live.
For the unlucky ones, they instead waited outside the gates of the futuristic-looking Hangzhou E-sports Centre, craning their necks to look inside the official Games buses passing through.
E-sports is making its debut as a medal event in the Chinese city, seen as a major step towards the Olympics one day, with renowned gamers such as Lee “Faker” Sang-hyeok in action.
The South Korean did not disappoint his legions of fans on Monday, helping his team beat Kazakhstan 1-0 in a League of Legends group match.
Medals are up for grabs in seven gaming titles, including Arena of Valor, League of Legends and EA Sports FC Online.
Underlining just how popular – China has a massive audience of 400 million e-sports fans – it is, e-sports is the only competition at the Games where tickets were allocated through an initial online lottery, before being opened up last week for direct purchase.
E-sports events are one of the most expensive ones to watch at the Asiad. It will return as a medal event in the 2026 Games in Japan.
“Getting tickets for this e-sports competition was quite intense,” said Xu Kezhen, a 20-year-old fan at the modern venue.
“I had to try five or six times before finally getting one. Everyone wants to come and support the Chinese team and their favourite players, so there is a rush to grab the tickets and show their support.”
The hassle and expense did not deter Zhao Xiaohan, who signed up for all possible lotteries before eventually winning a prized spot.
“It felt like quite a challenge to secure the ticket and luck played a role as well,” the 23-year-old said.
Another lucky spectator, Jiang Xinyou, 29, said: “I really wanted to see the Chinese team play, but I wasn’t able to get tickets for those matches.”
Those who made it inside the 4,500-capacity arena waved lightsticks and cheered as two-dimensional “heroes” fought onscreen, controlled by athletes furiously swiping on their phone screens.
Games organisers, who have not said how many tickets they are releasing in total, require spectators to register their identification documents when buying tickets and show them when entering the venue in an effort to prevent scalping. AFP
