When Will the MLB’s China Esports League Begin?
Baseball is one of the most popular sports in the United States, often being referred to as “America’s pastime.” This title is a little misleading, though. The most popular sport in the country is, in fact, American (or gridiron) football. The NFL attracts over 100 million television viewers, while the MLB has around 40 million. Although less than half, it is by no means a figure to be sniffed at.
Outside of the United States, baseball is accessible in several Asian countries, including South Korea and Japan. However, MLB’s biggest market remains the US, with around 70 million fans going to watch baseball games each year. MLB fans in the US have better access to TV broadcasts of games and can place proposition wagers on games in real-time through bookmakers like FoxBet.
One country where baseball has not been able to make much traction is China. This is despite attempts by MLB to develop talent in the country, with three baseball training centers in mainland China since 2009. It currently plans to expand these to reach even more people in the hopes of building up popularity for the sport in the country. The MLB also ran the MLB China Series, which were two games that were played inside China before the 2008 season, the games were between the LA Dodgers and the San Diego Padres. Despite this, baseball remains significantly less popular than sports like basketball.
Chinese social media accounts operated by the NBA have reported as many as 2.8 billion views on videos it has uploaded, demonstrating massive popularity of the sport. To achieve this number outside of China, the entire population of Europe and America would have to watch the video, and it would still fall short.
This lack of popularity could be explained by the fact that lower levels of western influence have permeated Chinese culture compared to other Asian countries like Japan and South Korea. To overcome this, the MLB needs to create a strategy that develops Chinese baseball stars that can inspire others, requiring decades of investment.
The Esports Strategy
While baseball is not popular within mainland China, esports certainly are. Some live esports games can attract hundreds of thousands and even millions of viewers, far more than outside of the country. Therefore, it made perfect sense when MLB announced in July 2019 that it was planning to launch an esports league in China.
The announcement stated that it would be called the “MLB China eSports League,” and that it would follow a similar format to the real-life MLB league, with a regular-season and a set of playoff games to follow. The entire season, including the playoffs, would last for three months and would be held in multiple Chinese cities, including Chengdu, Chongqing, Xi’an, Hangzhou, Beijing, Suzhou, and Shanghai.
To build a strong following in China, MLB planned to partner with eight established esports organizations. It is hoped that by doing so, the MLB China eSports League can appeal to esports fans that may not be baseball fans. This strategy will be crucial to the success of the league as it will need to grow on the back of the popularity of esports in China, rather than baseball and the MLB brand.
To further promote “baseball culture” in China, MLB planned to host several events in the country to give fans a taste of what baseball is and what it has to offer. It would also be making heavy use of Chinese social media platforms like Weibo.
Where is the League?
The announcement stated that the MLB China eSports League was set to launch by the end of 2019. Despite this, no further announcements (official or otherwise) have been made about the league since the initial news in early July 2019.
It is now nearly November, and the radio silence from MLB would suggest that the MLB China eSports League has been delayed. In contrast, the NBA had made several announcements in the run-up to its NBA 2K League launch, including who its sponsors were and what teams would be competing.
It would, therefore, seem that the league will more likely launch in 2020; however, without any new information, this would be just speculation. It does seem probable though, as a launch like this would typically be announced with a lot of fanfare and noise to help raise awareness of the league and excite fans into tuning in to the first games of the 2020 season, both esports and with bat and ball. We will, instead, have to wait for the next official announcement from MLB.
Given the recent schism in the NBA/China relationship, perhaps MLB should accelerate their plans and capitalize on a potential opportunity. MLB continuously proves to value profits over people. Why not pursue profits at the sake of democracy? Is baseball still America’s pastime or is America’s pastime far more nihilist?
