Remember that time when Adelaide Oval refused to sell tickets to “Aboriginal people” during NAIDOC week? Well it looks like we’ve somehow hit a new low in the awful juncture that exists between “racism” and “sport.” In this case it’s technically esports but that’s just getting into semantics.
It is being reported that actor and former basketball pro Rick Fox is leaving his owner position at Echo Fox, an esports organisation he helped found in 2015, due to racist remarks made by a company shareholder.
Oh boy…
In an internal email reported from Rick to “all major stakeholders” at Echo Fox, he alleged “outrageous and abhorrent display of pure racism made by a significant Echo Fox shareholder as well as threats to [his] family” and has stated his intention to sever all ties to the company ASAP.
As for the triggering incident in question, apparently it was due to the use of a racial epithet towards former Echo Fox CEO Jace Hall from someone at Vision Esports, which is a big investor in Echo Fox.
But what really pushed Rick to leave Echo Fox was a source revealing that “most shareholders have tried to ignore” the issue in hopes that it will go away and he responded with a big “screw this, I’m leaving”.
Yes. Yes it is.
While racism in sports and esports isn’t anything new (sadly), this latest instance highlights how bad the problem is and far we still have to go before this it is eradicated.
It’s one thing to drop racial slurs mid-match (which is awful enough as it is) but it is another completely to have the owner of a popular esports company quit over some racist asshat, especially when said owner got into gaming to become closer to his son and has subsequently done so much for the esports scene over the years.
It goes to show that racism is an issue that is remains annoyingly alive in sports and it doesn’t give a crap whether you’re the owner of a big sporting organisation or a player on the field. The fact that Rick Fox, someone who has now experienced racism in both sports and esports, is stepping away speaks volumes to the problem and it’s something that needs addressing urgently.
With esports trying to establish itself as a “proper” sport, it looks like it just took a big step closer with this latest racial incident. All we need is players slinging slurs at each other and – oh wait that already happens as well.
Huh, maybe esports is already a proper sport and we all just didn’t realise. Time to hold a big esports event at Adelaide Oval and see what ticket policy is implemented.