Excel Sheets have made our lives easier and for some people, these formulas and crosscuts come easy but for others they can literally take you off the board with their speed.
Over the weekend, ESPN broadcast a replay of a recent esports event that saw the world’s most advanced Microsoft Excel users go head-to-head in a knockout tournament.
Organized by the people behind the Financial Modeling World Cup, the Excel “All-Star Battle” took place back in May. It began with eight competitors, who went up against one another in a series of spreadsheet-based challenges until eventually a champion was crowned.
The action might have been difficult to follow for mere mortals, if not for the live commentary, player interviews and post-tournament analysis, all of which were delivered with an enthusiasm to rival any other sports coverage. The internet loved it.
The World “Excel” championships are on espn2 right now just by the way. pic.twitter.com/QbhsTsZyIU
— Chase Breedlove (@breedmylove) August 7, 2022
It hasn’t all been plain-sailing for ESPN – the company had to call time on its daily esports coverage for cost-cutting reasons at the height of the pandemic – but the continued willingness to embrace events like the Excel Esports All-Star Battle show the broadcaster plans to stay the course.
It might come as a surprise to some that there is an appetite for a spreadsheet-based esports tournament, but the rise of streaming culture has proven there’s a market for pretty much anything.
Microsoft Excel competitions might not rise to the top of the Twitch rankings any time soon, but you might just find they capture your imagination in a way you didn’t expect. The next event in the calendar: is the FMWC Open(opens in a new tab) in early October.
This has to be the wildest tournament ever but the upside is that you brush up on your spreadsheet work.
(Source: Techradar)
