The Summer Olympics are approaching the halfway point but look ahead — there’s a new game in town: Olympic Esports.

Announced late last month, the newest Olympic games’ inaugural debut is scheduled for summer 2025 in Saudi Arabia. And why should you care? Well, it’s (fingers crossed) one more reason to puff out your KC chest as our world-ranked esports team, the Pioneers, prepare to brave the new frontier.

What are esports?

Short for “electronic sports,” esports are video games played at the competition level. Professional competitions usually center games that require a combination of technique, strategy + precision. After all, there’s a reason why it’s recommended surgeons play video games — it takes extreme hand-eye coordination to be as good as the KC Pioneers.

Fun fact: July 21 is KC Pioneers Day in the City of KCMO.

This Rocket League player is having a *wheely* good time. | Photo courtesy of KC Pioneers

Ranked in the top 9% for tournament wins, the five-year-old Pioneers are one of the largest Esports organizations in the Midwest + the fastest growing in North America. source?But are they Olympic level?

“All of our teams are heading to world championships this year,” Chief Marketing Officer Sam Kulikov said.

“I’m very hopeful we’ll see some of our players swap the Kansas City Pioneers jersey for the United States jersey,” Pioneers Co-Founder Mark Josey said.

The teams train upwards of eight hours a day practicing their respective games. Just like with traditional sports, only those with full-focused dedication make it to the top.

“They say it takes 10,000 hours to be an expert, and there's a little bit of truth in that,” Josey said. “So it's a little bit of innate talent, a little luck [...] and then literally playing the game and practicing and thinking about your mechanics, thinking about strategy.”

Want to see the team in action? Stream games using video platforms like YouTube and Twitch. Follow them to see their schedule.