From eSports to Formula 2, Cem Balukbosi is living the dream
(Cem Balukbosi - Courtesy of f1esports.com)
An early nominee for craziest sports story of the year: Formula 1 eSports graduate Cem Balukbosi has signed a contract with Charouz Racing and will be in the 2022 Formula 2 driver lineup. From an eSports player to a professional athlete, this is what dreams are made of.
The Turkish driver is being financially supported by the Turkish Motor Sports Federation (TOSFED) and other major Turkish companies, so it appears as if this might be yet another money move in a sport that’s completely built on money. Although this situation seems a bit more complicated than daddy buying you a seat in F1, *cough cough Lance Stroll*, it makes you wonder what kind of effect corporations had on this move.
When you first read the headline, the majority of initial reactions are likely along the lines of “How can this be possible” or “Is that team serious?” but when broken down, this wild decision by Charouz makes a tiny bit of sense. Balukbosi is more than just a gamer.
The 23-year-old has been motorsport racing for 18 years now and competed in Formula 3 for the 2021 season where he scored points in 13 out of 15 races. Aside from putting in the hours in the sSports simulator, Balukbosi has real experience behind the wheel, which makes this move a little more reasonable.
Despite the fact that Balukbosi was a legitimate candidate to make the move to Formula 1, it’s more fun to highlight the idea that a full-time professional eSports gamer has become a professional athlete in the same sport. Who would have thought?
It’s evident that eSports have been on the rise over the past few years including sports games similar to F1 2021 such as Madden, FIFA, and NBA 2K, but I don’t think anyone would have thought this scenario could be a reality.
Could you imagine a competitive 2K player lacing up some sneakers and running out on the court to guard LeBron James? Better yet, could you imagine if a Madden player strapped on the pads and got thrown into an NFL offense? They would get creamed.
Of course, Formula 1 is a different beast entirely when compared to the American “Core 4,” but the idea is still the same.
Will this move open doors for other gamers looking to make their break in the sport they love? Not in the way you would think, but there are certainly opportunities across all the professional leagues that have a coinciding game series.
Rather than a Madden player moving to play Quarterback for the Dolphins, a pro-gamer could serve as useful in the front office, or even a sideline assistant for the coaching staff. Take college football for example. Over the last few years, it has become the norm to hire some sort of mathematician/statistician to advise the coaches on the likelihood and potential outcomes of the decisions they make during a game.
A decade ago, no one thought mathematicians had a place in sports other than calculating record stats, but now it’s an industry norm. A few years from now, we could have former Madden and 2K “Franchise mode” experts serving as advisors to General Managers across the board. We live in a crazy world, and although this sounds cliché, you’d be crazy to rule out the possibility entirely.
I wish nothing but the best to Balukbosi in his Formula 2 debut this March as I’d love to see such an unorthodox move work out. To summarize, will we see more gamers transition into the sport they play digitally? Not likely. Is this something to start discussing? Absolutely. Don’t count the gamers out.