Listen below to the latest edition of the China Sports Insider Podcast. It’s been taking me a little while to get the latest episodes up on here (apologies for that), so if you want to get the new shows as soon as they come out, please subscribe via your preferred podcast player.
On the show this week, the Peng Shuai story goes international in a big way (3:10), the financial consequences of sports leagues leaving China (5:11), different types of Olympic boycotts and what’s most likely for Beijing 2022 (8:18).
Then we interview Joshua Lee from Perfect World, a massive Chinese gaming company, to talk about the recent win from Chinese gaming team EDG and more (13:26). Josh runs esports tournaments in China and talks about the advantages China has over the rest of the world in esports (15:17), EDG’s world championship victory and the mass celebration across China (16:35), offline gatherings for the online community (17:55), the typical esports demographic in China (19:09), a gaming debut at the 2022 Asian Games in Hangzhou (22:34), whether the Olympics need esports more than esports needs the Olympics (24:16), China’s new law restricting gaming time for minors (26:34), the true numbers of gamers in China (28:38), and the links between esports and traditional sports leagues (31:30).
Also this week, I was quoted here in a piece by The New York Times, which seemed to get a fair bit of attention. If you enjoyed the podcast, please download, share or subscribe! And as always, find me on Twitter, Instagram or LinkedIn.
