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There's a World Excel Championships packed with commentators and analysis, people are loving it online

There's a World Excel Championships packed with commentators and analysis, people are loving it online

Excel Esports is getting national TV coverage, with the one-of-a-kind sport pitting eight expert modellers against each other.

Jayden Collins

Jayden Collins

Ever thought your Microsoft Excel skills were head and shoulders above everybody else? 

Well, we’ve got the sport just for you.

Presenting, Excel Esports the newest, and potentially the next biggest esport in the world.

Set up by the Financial Modeling World Cup, their most recent event the ‘ALL-STAR BATTLE’ took place over the weekend, packed with commentators and analysis as well. 

Yes, it’s real, and it’s actually getting quite a massive coverage.

The one-of-a-kind sport pits eight expert modellers against each other as they try to solve an original task about lottery answers with the goal to answer as many questions as possible in a limited time using Microsoft Excel. 

The Financial Modeling World Cup has actually been going on for a few years now first kicking off in September 2020.

Contestants are prompted to solve real-life financial problems by building financial models in Excel. 

The first World Cup was won by Australian Joseph Lau, with the 2021 competition won by American Diarmuid Early.

This ‘ALL-STAR BATTLE’ featured those two competitors again as well as runner-ups and highly ranked (yes, there are rankings) competitors.

So essentially it was the best of the best at popping in those formulas. 

And believe it or not, the championships were getting huge coverage on ESPN2, coupled with scorecards and commentators to make it seem as legit as possible.

And of course, it is legit, Excel can be confusing at the best of times, it’s a real talent to be able to use these formulas under time pressure.

The commentators are packed full of metaphors and expert coverage as well, just listen to one of the commentators try to explain one of the competitor’s strategies.

They say: “The contestants that clean their metal first, they wind up with good knives in the end, and the ones that don’t, they get up ahead of time but then they wind with a cracked blade or something.”

Just brilliant analysis. 

People were loving it online as well.

One person commented: “Probably the most exciting and educational sports event in my lifetime. I actually learned a few things from this.”

Another said: “This is what sports is all about.”

And of course, someone had to beg the question, asking: “How do we bet on it?”

ESPN is known for not shying away from coverage of niche sports, having broadcast the Ultimate Frisbee championship, a paper airplane championship, and even the world air guitar championships. 

But Excel Esports has to take the cake.

Featured Image Credit: Dzmitry Kliapitski / Alamy. Rafal Olkis / Alamy.

Topics: Australia, United States

Jayden Collins is a Journalist at SPORTbible. He has worked across multiple media platforms in areas such as sport, music, pop culture, entertainment and politics. He is part of the editorial team for LADbible Australia.