Alibaba Endorses Esports for Olympics, But Not Violent Games

  • E-commerce giant seeks inclusion of soccer, basketball games
  • Alibaba spending on esports to top 300 million yuan this year

Photographer: Isaac Lawrence/AFP via Getty Images

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Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. is happy to help promote the inclusion of competitive video games as an Olympic sport, just as long as they aren’t violent or gory.

China’s biggest e-commerce company, which operates an esports business and is a sponsor of the Olympics Games through 2028, is pushing for soccer, car racing and other games to be endorsed as an official competitive sport, said Zhang Dazhong, chief executive officer of AliSports.