Can you build a sport around a product?

We recently learned that the IOC (International Olympic Committee) accepted starting an e-sports event.

And from my research, the games that will be played at the event might be

• League of Legends
• Rocket League
• Street Fighter
• Tekken
• iRacing
• NBA2K
• FIFA

While some games are simulations of real-world sports (Basketball, martial arts, and football), others are new experiences that have just emerged in human society.

League of Legends (LOL) is based on the Defense of the Ancient (DOTA) map from Warcraft3.

LOL and other multiplayer games have features that never belonged in human society, such as

- The ability to re-spawn
- Endless supply of Creeps (Footmen)
- Ability to move vast distances in a few clicks (Moving around the map)

While these mechanics are great for gameplay. I wonder how the introduction of these games into a regulated and controlled environment like the Olympic Committee will change them.

How can you maintain innovation in gameplay if you have to abide by rules that the sports will impose? Rules exist to make the sport more fair.

For example in cycling, you have certain regulations and specifications you need to abide by to enter a race. You cannot use e-bikes or motorized parts, (that's called motorized doping).

So who will set these rules for the athletes, and how will that work? Since the people creating the games those athletes are playing are private firms that are profit-driven. Venture capitalists and other investors demand returns and growth.

How can Riot Games (Creators of LOL) change the gameplay as part of a new patch? It would break the rules and regulations.

Will they need to create a fork from LOL that is Olympic-approved (Olympic edition)?

Will they restrict new interfaces that might come up for playing a new version of LOL? For example, a heads-up display (HUD) that connects to a set of AR glasses adds to the experience of the game, allowing for multiple sources of data simultaneously.

Will loot boxes and other items that belong in a micro-transaction world of gaming be allowed? How do you remove them? Do the game producers have to keep two modes in mind while building games (Olympic and street) in a similar fashion to athletic apparel manufacturers?

Lots of questions come up from the simple act of introducing a few games to the IOC games.

And as someone curious about building software products, and a gamer I'm looking forward to the answers.