Mind Sports Opportunity — The Sleeping Giant of Sports
Before video games and esports there is a category of sports and entertainment called mind sports, or intellectual games. Chess, Go, and Xiangqi are few types of mind sports. All these games were introduced to the world over 1,500 year ago and have over millions of players worldwide.
While most of the current discussions and attention are put towards traditional sports such as football, basketball, and hockey, there is a smaller emphasis on mind sports. However, little do we know, the mind sports landscape continues to grow. The live-stream of World Chess Championship in 2016 received as much as 10 million unique visitors. It is estimated that there are at least 100,000 online people playing at any time for chess alone with the audience reaching 2 million viewers daily. We believe the online penetration rate for mind sports has yet to be tapped. Take the largest online chess portal, Chess.com for example, with 5 million players, this only represents 1% of the total addressable chess audience of 600 millions players.
Throwback Thursday — What is Mind Sports?
According to the International Mind Sports Association (IMSA), Mind sport is a modern term that started being used in the 1970s. The umbrella organization for all international sports federations, SportAccord classifies sports into five categories:
1. physical sport,
2. mind sports,
3. motorized sports
4. synchronized or coordinated sports,
5. animal-assisted sports.
The 2011 Charities Act had adopted a definition of sport as “activities which promote health involving physical or mental health or exertion”
Mind sport is a game of skill where the competition is determined by intellectual prowess and skill.
Why Should We Play Mind Sports?
Mind sports is not only for people who are associated with being academically gifted or “smart”. Numerous studies demonstrated the direct benefits of playing mind sports such as improvement of cognitive functions and slowing down of aging. We believe mind sports should remain as accessible as possible for people to develop analytical or critical thinking skills in their everyday life. It can also improve their spatial and cognitive abilities, pattern recognition, and discipline.
The Mind Sports Landscape — More Opportunity Coming Ahead
The industry continues to grow despite the widespread use of internet games, sponsorship and competitive playing have created moneymaking opportunities. Mind sports players are finding ways to promote themselves and the game through the use of technology. ChessBrah via twich.tv, allows viewers to watch real-time stream games, while prize fund for tournament varies around to as much as USD 2 million. The live-stream of World Chess Championship in 2016 received as much as 10 million unique visitors. It is estimated that there are at least 100,000 online people playing at any time for chess alone with the audience reaching 2 million viewers daily.
Market Size — Estimate Over 1 Billion Player
According to an official International Olympics Committee (IOC) submission, more than 600 million people worldwide play chess, a game that’s over 1,500 years old. Additionally, Chinese chess is played by 200 million players according to BBC News, while the game of GO, invented 3,000 years ago, has 60 million players globally. For Poker, according to the WPT: there are more than 60 million poker players in the United States and more than 100 million worldwide.
Final Thoughts
Mind sports is the sleeping giant of sports. We believe there is tremendous growth and opportunity in mind sports. We are trying to create a network for enthusiasts of all levels to come host, play, govern, and discuss various mind sport to increase the penetration rate of online mind sports gaming.
Stay tuned for upcoming articles about MindSports
About Us
MindSports is the first and only decentralized social gaming network for tournament hosting, governing and playing targeted for intellectual sports such as Chess, Poker, and Go.
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