The image is as much a constant of pandemic-era American life as lines outside grocery stores and TV commercials promising they understand these are “challenging times”: Famous athletes playing video games.
Across practically every major sport that’s currently on hold because of the coronavirus, video games are at the center of much of sports’ replacement programming. It’s often tied to fundraising for COVID-19 relief, as when Wayne Gretzky and Alex Ovechkin battled it out on “NHL 20” last week. It’s even become more of a mainstay on traditional television with the spike in popularity of the “eNASCAR iRacing Pro Invitational Series” races being shown on FS1.