On a cloudy Sunday, while most of Chennai slumbered through a lazy afternoon, a new generation of athletes stood wide awake outside the Jawaharlal Nehru Indoor Stadium.
With headsets around necks, some had consoles, some, mousepads and many others held gaming pillows. Gaming stations, driving simulators and cooling fans packed the enclosure — it was the final day of esports in the 2025 Chief Minister’s Trophy.
But, for Chennai and Tamil Nadu, there was more. The city will host a major esports tournament next: the Global Esports Championship, one of the first state-backed esports contests in the country, in November.
“When the idea (of the state backing esports) was proposed, Deputy CM Sir (Udhayanidhi Stalin) was very excited. He knew the potential, and so, we decided to bring it in as a demonstration event last year,” J. Meghanatha Reddy IAS, Member Secretary and CEO, Tamil Nadu Sports Development Authority, told Sportstar.
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“The response was incredible: when we posted social media content for other games, it typically attracted around 2,000 likes, while esports content got around 10,000 interactions in no time. So, it was decided that we would elevate it as a competitive game,” he added.
This year, esports is being organised as one of the 38 disciplines in the CM trophy and has received close to 5,000 applications from all around the state.
“It’s part of the overall budget. We have INR 83 crore allotted by the Government of Tamil Nadu for the CM trophy, of which 37 crore goes as cash prizes,” Reddy said. “This will be a regular affair. We’ll even increase the scale, given the kind of response we are getting.”
A platform for Global Esports Championship
The local success has paved the way for the first edition of Chennai Esports Global Championship (CEGC) from November 7 to 16. It will be organised by Skyesports, one of India’s leading gaming organisations, with backing from the Government of Tamil Nadu.
“For the CEGC, the state government has granted a sum of INR 4.54 crore, and the overall budget comes to around nine crore,” Reddy said.
“We see a lot of future, not just in CEGC, but in the entire ecosystem—youngsters getting involved, doing reels, making money, and building fantastic careers out of it,” he added.
The tournament will have a prize pool of INR 1 crore (approximately INR 94 lakh) and will feature two titles: Battlegrounds Mobile India (BGMI) and Counter-Strike 2 (CS2).
“In Counter-Strike, we will have two teams each from Europe, Southeast Asia and India in qualifiers, and overall, we are expecting around 10,000 participants in the title,” Shiva Nandy, the founder and CEO of Skyesports, said.
The CEGC will be especially significant for CS2, with it being a part of the Valve Regional Standings, a metric that ranks CS2 teams around the world.
(From L-R): Asarudheen, Shiva Nandy, J. Meghanatha Reddy IAS, Atulya Misra IAS, and Sriram.
| Photo Credit:
Special Arrangement
(From L-R): Asarudheen, Shiva Nandy, J. Meghanatha Reddy IAS, Atulya Misra IAS, and Sriram.
| Photo Credit:
Special Arrangement
“In BGMI, 16 teams will participate, including sides from Tamil Nadu. We are expecting a crowd of 20,000 over six days at the event, while five million people are expected to watch the Championships across several streaming platforms,” Nandy added.
The bigger picture
Esports, in the last few years, has gained legitimacy as part of conventional sports, with the World Anti-Doping Agency including it in its Technical Document for Sport-specific analysis, while the International Olympic Committee has given its nod for the Esports Olympics, likely to be held in 2027.
It was played as a medal sport at the 2022 Asian Games and will continue to be one in Aichi-Nagoya in the next edition of the Asiad.
“Tamil Nadu is trying to put its best foot forward to be the leader of esports in India and certainly, find a place in the world,” Atulya Misra IAS (Additional Chief Secretary to the Tamil Nadu Government, Department of Youth Welfare and Sports Development), said.
“Today, esports comprises around a 200-million-dollar market in India. In 10 years, it is going to increase to one billion. And the main reason is the ban on (real-money) gaming. So, all those resources are going to come to esports,” he added.
India—according to a record by the IMARC group—continues to rise as one of the fastest-growing markets in the esports industry. It had over 453 million gamers in 2023 and is expected to surpass 730 million by 2028.
“We’ll make CEGC an annual feature. Chennai is known as a hub of sports like motorsports, chess, table tennis and fencing. We want Chennai to be India’s hub for esports in the next five years. That’s our goal,” Reddy added.
Published on Oct 12, 2025
