Vlad Marinescu: Esports’ Global Reach, the IESF’s Growth and More

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One of two international federations in the esports world, the International Esports Federation’s mission is to further esports on a global scale. With 130 member national federations, IESF president Vlad Marinescu discusses esports on a global level, the international outlook for the industry, esports at the grassroots level around the world compared to the United States, the tightening of financial backing within the professional esports space, esports’ possible place in the Olympic sports landscape and much more.

Among the topics discussed in this episode:

• The health of esports at a global level right now (1:47): ” … Especially after the pandemic, it did result in esports being the focal point of a lot of different organizations that before didn’t even know what it stood for or what it actually meant. Of course, the numbers don’t lie. So with with esports, what’s interesting is that we have direct access to information that tells us regarding viewership levels, server connections, prizes paid. It’s more clear than it is in traditional linear media and all the numbers are showing huge increases. Nothing has slowed down and as we see the trend in esports is that the population is growing. So we had the World Championship in December in Bali. We surpassed every number before in history, prize money 10 times more than the year before, giving half a million dollars of prize money to the winners. This year, we’ve surpassed all the numbers of that last year at this particular moment before we’re even close to the continental stage and the final stage. … The numbers are expanding, they’re growing. There’s more attention, understanding and there’s more acceptance from the parents as well as the global sporting community to understand that esports is here and we’ll continue to be appreciated and will continue to grow.”
• The growth of the IESF last year, in 2023 and beyond (3:27): “I want to start one year before that. I can tell you that we are rapidly expanding the growth, not only in terms of financial, but also in terms of national federations. Two years ago at the World Championship, we had 60 countries present. Last year we beat 100 and this year we’re at the moment around 130 national federations that are sending their national teams that have underwent already the national qualifying stage. We’ve had more than 3 million people that have tried to play to find a spot in the world championship. It’s the most incredible result to see how fast the organization is growing in the sense that we have a board that started with six people — now we’re 20 people. We have a professional general secretary with a staff of 22 people in Macedonia, as well as additional staff in Korea, which are all time fully dedicated employees to the organization who are passionate esports people. … This growth will continue. Although, to tell you honestly, it’s very hard to go from a 10x growth to another 10x growth. So realistically speaking, of course, we did the 10x growth last year, and I’m expecting and hoping to do another 5x growth. I think that we have the right team, we have the right environment. And our community of esports people is just fun, cool people that love music and life and like to consume the things that are inside of their cultural style.”
• Being one of two international esports federations and is that sustainable in the future (5:14): “The IESF is the federation that has 130 plus national federations and I have been elected president by the General Assembly that took place. We’re now organizing the 15th World Championship. We were together with the OCA when in Incheon, the first time esports came on the scene and organized in the Asian games. The ISEF is a democratic, transparent member driven organization founded in 2008. I cannot comment about the other international federation, but I can tell you that in our strategic plan, personally myself, I see only a total unity. The confusion that’s generated at all levels by having two bodies that claim to be international federations does more harm than good. All of the national federations that are in the countries, I have advised to join both organizations when the question was put to me because we’re esports, we’re global, we’re free, we’re fun, we’re dynamic. There’s no authoritative legislation that’s forcing or obliging people to make a choice in a certain way. I can promise you that by the end of this year, we will have a unity in the esports, meaning that there will be only one World Federation.”
• How often he travels to various events and the response he receives in different areas of the world (6:47): “Esports is a beautiful joining language, a common language between people of all kinds of backgrounds and orients and colors and sizes and genders. I think that sport in general is the ultimate way to communicate and break borders, to put people together under the terms of unity, solidarity, friendship and peace, and to compete against one each other with respect and values. Traveling around the world, I’ve had the opportunity and the good luck to be able to experience and not only to travel but to organize mega-events around the world … whether it be last week, the Doha World Championship of judo, or whether it be the Beijing Olympic Games, my first Olympic Games in 2008, or the World Combat Games when I was Director General of Sport Accord and we did 15 sports, 5,000 athletes in two weeks. Esports is no different. The thing about esports that’s particular that I can no longer refrain from stressing is that when we compete in esports, our physical self is irrelevant in the sense that … we leave our demographic, we leave our height, our weight, our gender, our nationality, our beliefs, and we enter into the digital realm where we can equally participate against the person who can be completely different than us on a level playing field. That’s something that I find very unique and very beautiful, the fact that your physical self does not relate to your performance, meaning that if you’re not born two meters-plus tall or whatever size you are, you’re not gonna play in the NBA probably, or you’ll have more difficulty to get there. But in the sense that in esports, everyone has a chance. We’re completely inclusive across all demographics and across all physicalities or cultural backgrounds, and that’s what I think is beautiful about esports.”
• What esports looks like at the grassroots level around the world compared to the United States (9:29): “I think that traditional sport and esports are complimenting each other as in yin and yang. I truly believe that to be a successful human and to be a positive driving force behind humanity we need to have both physical and digital educations. Grassroots esports for me is to gain a competency with technology. … Technology will only have a more important role in the future and the future generations and esports develops the mind and develops the cognitive necessities for competing in the jobs of tomorrow. That’s what the ultimate role of sport is. It’s to prepare people to be better in life and to have a better chance at being successful in life. The grassroots development for me is purely on a plate of requiring to develop people mentally using technology and to socialize digitally, competitively in various genres of games. While at the same time, a necessary component that we’re pushing is fitness, physical fitness, participation in sport. … it’s been proven that if you want to be successful in esports, your physical body must be sound and Fit Gamer is working with us together at the moment. We just concluded a partnership agreement following the last year’s world championship when every morning they had a training — one day yoga, one day running, one day stretching, one day meditation — that we want to push through all the influencers to all the grassroots esports, to all the kids. Responsible gaming is esports and it’s our duty and objective and requirement if we want to have a good tomorrow to endow the young generations with physical sport to compliment their esport habits.”
• How the IESF placed this year’s World Championships in Romania and the bid evaluation process in determining a host (12:06): “I think that host cities share a unique culture with the participants of a world championship. And the experience that our national federations and their national teams are receiving will revive throughout the different communities around the world, will bring the world closer together. … I believe we will deliver an event that all of the children of the world are going to watch and enjoy and savor, and that all of the professional esports teams are going to compete at the highest level with easy access and all facilities required plus sport every morning for the event to reach the new levels of viewership around the world. The process at the moment is very, very difficult in the sense that we have lots of interest in the event. The numbers are incredible. We had at last year’s event, 650,000 concurrent viewers at one moment, peak concurrent viewers, and more than 3.4 million hours watched. … Technology and esports are united, and our job is to deliver the local culture and the culture of the community with music and festivals and fun to really celebrate esports and the national teams at the same time while helping to send a message to all the followers around the world of unity, peace, friendship and health.”
• The attention placed on a tightening of financial backing within the professional esport space in the United States (14:44): “… The publishers are the oxygen in our esports universe. Without them, we would not be able to survive. We respect them and we work with them since 2008. There needs to be from a business point of view, discussion around finding the sustainability of the ecosystem, the sustainability of how to interact with the professional teams, the professional players, the games themselves and their mega-events and their huge price goals, and how everybody in the ecosystem can benefit from the activity of promoting esports. Because the activity of promoting esports does generate interest, understanding and huge financial revenues for IP holders who are creating the various games by expanding the product lifecycle of such games. And as a community, I believe that we all compliment each other and we all support each other and ensure that our respective inclusion or addition to this ecosystem can be positive specifically for the gamers and for the people that are involved in esports … “
• What place could esports have in the Olympic landscape (17:18): ” … With judo and esports, we have in Minecraft two different maps — Budokon (and) Kodokan. More than 3 million unique downloads of kids learning the judo values by playing Minecraft, the Budokon or the Kodokan. That being said, I think it’s important that something we’ve been speaking about for a long time be understood: I truly believe that every international federation has to manage their particular esport because they have the community, they have the understanding of the game, they have world championships, circuits and all the tools required to promote and to create a safe and positive environment for the esports athletes in their sport. But we must understand … esports is the activity of competing against another person in a digital format and that is done across a lot of different games. We are open and happy always and have been included also inside of the various commissions and the esports liaison group from the beginning of it being made by the IOC and I believe that they are very successful in their contact with esports and I am ready and we already always to support them for promoting the Olympic values to all the kids that do esports in the world.”
• The ability of Russian and Belarussian athletes to compete in world esports competitions (20:14): “When it comes to esports and political, geopolitical issues with esports, it’s very simple. I’m elected by our member national federations, and my job is to enforce their will and their direction. In esports, there’s no room for politics. We work according to the demand of our national federations. After the situation had come to light, the first thing that we did in our board was to call an extraordinary general meeting of all the members to allow 15 minutes to Russia, Belarus and Ukraine to present, then to open the floor to all national federations for five-minute interventions regarding anything they thought was valid or important for all the member national federations to vote on. The result of the vote was a choice to decide between Russia participating underneath the flag of the  Russian eSport Federation; under the flag of the IESF; or to block and ban Russia and Belarussian athletes completely. More than 69% voted to allow them to compete. Sport is not politics. We implemented that decision in the World Championship in Bali. We had the teams present and competed and almost won CS:GO as independent athletes. That are not political, they are people who play games professionally. There have been training for this a long time and we must be neutral and open enforcing and promoting that the bridge to the peace and the unity has to be sport with no political targets or requirements or agendas.”
• Grading himself as an esports competitor (22:03): “We play every year as the board of our organization, we played a game against each other to the surprise of our friends that were watching because we played on main stage. We played CS:GO and I was the first one in our team. Not withstanding that I’m sure that any one of our actual athletes would destroy me completely at any type of game. Not only because I don’t have the time nowadays to really enjoy how I did back in the day, but I can tell you that when I was in high school … we were getting together at LAN parties. The monitor weighed more than my house weights nowadays. We’d carry our monitors and our screens on a Friday night to someone’s house whose parents would allow us. And we play games until Sunday night … I believe the esports and sports need to work together for positive humanity. The World Championship of esports is the pinnacle event where all the professional athletes can come out of their professional teams and represent their countries. There’s something beautiful about representing your country underneath the rules of peace and friendship and unity in the world championships to compete for prize money and to compete for that championship title of World Champion. And I’m so happy that we can apply personally all the lessons that I’ve had from traditional sport, from judo, from the Olympics, from my sporting career as a martial artist to esports and to help guide this direction alongside a board that is just incredible.”

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