Jayden Collins
There are so many sports around the world at the moment and they all bring atmosphere, thrills, spills, heartache, determination and adrenaline (in some way, shape or form).
But we're here to present to you one hell of an exciting new adventure: Excel Esports.
That’s right, a whole sport dedicated to ‘VLOOKUP’, ‘COUNTIF’, and ‘SUMIF’. We’ve officially peaked as a society.
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The sport has been set up by the Financial Modeling World Cup, with their most recent event the ‘ALL-STAR BATTLE’ jam-packed with commentators and analysis.
And if you thought your Microsoft Excel skills were among the best, well, we’ve got some news for you.
These lads are on another level.
The tournament for this one-of-a-kind sport pits the best against the best, as eight experts try to solve original tasks about lottery answers, with the goal to answer as many questions as possible in a limited amount of time.
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It’s actually been an esport for quite some time now, with the first Financial Modeling World Cup kicking off in September 2020.
That was won by Australian Joseph Lau and the 2021 competition was won by American Diarmuid Early.
This ‘ALL-STAR BATTLE’ featured those two competitors again as well as runner-ups and highly ranked (yes, there are rankings) competitors.
Yes, it’s real, and it’s actually getting quite a massive coverage.
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The championships were being broadcast nationally in the United States on ESPN2, coupled with scorecards and commentators to make it seem as legit as possible.
Excel can be confusing at the best of times, so it’s a real talent to be able to use these formulas under time pressure.
The commentators packed their analysis with metaphors and expert coverage as well. Just listen to one of the commentators try to explain one of the competitor’s strategies.
They say: “The contestants that clean their metal first, they wind up with good knives in the end, and the ones that don’t, they get up ahead of time but then they wind with a cracked blade or something.”
Just brilliant analysis.
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People were loving it online as well.
One person commented: “Probably the most exciting and educational sports event in my lifetime. I actually learned a few things from this.”
Another said: “This is what sports is all about.”
And of course, someone had to beg the question, asking: “How do we bet on it?”
ESPN is known for not shying away from coverage of niche sports, having broadcast the Ultimate Frisbee championship, a paper airplane championship, and even the world air guitar championships.
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But Excel Esports has to take the cake.