Every sports event has a finish line, marked by the final whistle and the last scoreboard update. Yet, as Vietnam’s sports sector looks ahead, the real question is no longer what happens only during the competition window. Increasingly, the value generated by modern sport extends into the surrounding ecosystem, shaping media output, tourism interest, brand activity, commercial services, and even the communities that form online.
In recent years, this shift has become global and carries direct implications for how Vietnam approaches sports development. Traditionally, progress has been measured through international competitive performance or the number of people participating in training. Those metrics still matter, but the discussion is evolving, because they do not fully capture how sport contributes to the economy through interconnected industries.
Why Sports Value Now Goes Beyond Competitions
More countries increasingly treat sport as a comprehensive economic sector. In this view, major competitions are not only about achieving professional goals. They also act as catalysts for media production, tourism demand, trade activity, technology adoption, advertising campaigns, service growth, and innovation. In other words, a tournament can become an economic platform that keeps generating effects even after it ends.
Digital transformation accelerates this trend. Technology changes not just how audiences watch, but also how businesses invest, how tournaments are organized, and how value is produced. Match clips can continue to circulate across online platforms for days after the final whistle, turning athletes into more than competitors. They also function as content creators, brand ambassadors, and the center of fan communities, which helps extend an event’s lifespan through engagement and data-driven distribution.
Vietnam’s Policy Move: Sports Economy as Long-Term Growth
Vietnam is gradually aligning with this broader concept of sports value. A key milestone is Prime Minister Decision No. 1189/QD-TTg, which approves the Development Strategy for Physical Education and Sports in Vietnam through 2030, with a vision to 2045. The decision sets out goals to develop the sports market, mobilize social resources, encourage high growth levels in the sports economy, and progressively contribute positively to national economic development.
What stands out in this framework is that it places the sports economy concept inside long-term development strategy as a component of growth, rather than treating it as a side effect of sporting activity. The approach signals a change in thinking about sports development, moving from a narrow focus on performance improvement toward a wider emphasis on economic contribution.
VIRESA Leadership: Esports as a Digital Economic Ecosystem
Speaking on the topic, Do Viet Hung, Chairman of the Vietnam Esports and Entertainment Association (VIRESA), argues that judging sport only through a competitive lens makes it harder to fully realize the field’s potential. In his words, “In the context of digital transformation, Esports is not just a sport, but a digital economic ecosystem built on technology, data, digital content, and communities. More importantly, this model offers a way to create new value for the sports economy in the future,” he said.
His point also reframes how people typically talk about sports economics. Many discussions focus on ticket sales revenue, television broadcast rights costs, or sponsorship deals. However, those numbers represent only part of the broader picture. A tournament might not deliver major direct revenue, yet it can still generate economic value by strengthening local image, attracting tourists, increasing consumption, creating jobs for service businesses, or opening investment collaboration opportunities.
Building an Ecosystem: More Chains, More Economic Impact
At the same time, an event that earns high income but fails to build a fan base, lacks wide social impact, and does not develop related services will have limited long-term value. This is why the discussion is shifting from event-centered thinking toward ecosystem-based development. In such an ecosystem, athletes remain central to professional activity, but they are not the only creators of value.
Value is also produced across the event supply chain, including event organizers, media companies, technology platforms, advertising agencies, equipment producers, training institutions, tourism businesses, e-commerce companies, and many other sectors. The more connected these links become, the greater the contribution sport can make to the economy.
From Traditional Arenas to a “Second Arena” Online
This is also why Vietnam’s sports economy is increasingly tied to cultural industries and the digital economy. Successful tournaments do not only generate excitement among fans. They also create content that can be repurposed across platforms, expand brand collaboration opportunities, increase consumption, and support new business models.
According to the Government Program for Digital Economic Development and Digital Society, the digital economy is intended to become one of the main drivers of future economic growth. In that trend, sport needs transformation to expand its development space, moving from purely professional fields toward areas that create economic value. This is not a change in sport’s purpose, but rather an extension of how value is created on the foundation that already exists.
Where stadiums once functioned as the center of sports activity, digital space is now described as the sport industry’s “second arena.” Audiences do not only watch. They comment, share, create content, participate in online communities, and interact with athletes across platforms. As a result, an event’s relevance no longer ends after a few hours of competition. It continues through data, content, and community engagement.
Hoang Dao Cuong: Esports as a New Industry Under “Esports+”
A major difference between traditional sports economics and digital sports economics is the asset base. Previously, the main assets were venues, facilities, and equipment. Now, assets also include broadcast rights, data, digital content, brands, and fan communities. Hoang Dao Cuong, Vice Minister of Culture, Sports, and Tourism, also frames esports as more than a sport for the digital age. He calls it a new industry and says that under the “Esports+” orientation, it should connect with technology, education, culture, innovation, and international integration to become a driving force for the cultural industry, the sports economy, and the digital economy.
For him, the key is not esports itself, but the direction it represents for Vietnam’s sports future. If combined with technology and creative industries, sport gains more room to generate value rather than being judged only by professional achievements. Do Viet Hung further emphasizes that esports should not be treated as an end goal. Instead, it is described as a meeting point for four national development strategies: sports development, cultural industry development, digital economy development, and development of science, technology, and innovation.
In that framing, the greatest value of esports is not its status as a new category of sport, but its ability to inspire a digital-era sports economic development model. As the article concludes, esports acts less like a destination and more like a window into how quickly economic change can happen, with data, fan communities, digital rights, and platform-based value strategies already visible within the field.
