So what are E-Sports? The "E" stands for Electronic, so you can put two and two together. E-Sports generally refer to video games, and most of my friends who are into regular sports argue that E-Sports are not a real thing. Here is my rebuttal to the many naive views of what defines a sport.
Every webpage defines a sport as a form of physical activity governed by a set of rules and engaged upon in a competitive manner. Starcraft, and really any game, satisfies most of these needs. I will make the argument that Starcraft does require a certain level of physical and mental prowess. A good player is capable of making extremely precise actions and split-second decisions, something an amateur player could not do. Granted, there is no jumping or throwing (unless it is raging) but the world somehow agrees that NASCAR and Chess are both sports so why not competitive Starcraft?
Another point to made for E-Sports is that there is REAL money to be made here. People don't just do it because it is fun. Last year, over 5 Million Dollars was awarded in prize money in E-Sports, 2.5 Million of that in Starcraft alone. Additionally, major companies and brands sponsor tournaments, teams and players; major companies like Intel, Razer, AMD and Monster Energy.
There are major tournaments almost every month giving away a prize pool of $100,000 to players. The most famous of these events (in the US) is Major League Gaming's events. They are well attended, typically having 15-20k live viewers as well as having hundreds of thousands of viewers on a stream. There are some sports that don't even attract that kind of viewership but yet we still have the audacity to not consider E-Sports as something real.
Do you know what I think it is? I think E-Sports are not considered a sport by some because we don't have huge, muscle-infested, manly-men competing. Which begs us to reconsider what a sport should be. Why does it have to be physical? No, I think a sport should be redefined as "any activity which is performed in a competitive manner between two or more people, sometimes for a prize, monetary or otherwise." That seems like a fitting definition.
Additionally there is a certain stigma associated with E-Sports, that it is "nerdy" or "geeky." Sure, I'll meet you halfway on that one. But does that change it's status as a sport? I think not. Take fantasy football -- the people who play it track players, stats, match-ups, everything. All so they can build the ultimate team. If you ask me, that is way nerdier than Starcraft. At least in Starcraft, you are doing something. You are playing. You are being mentally and physically challenged. Starcraft players like to track stats of professional players as well, so that makes it very similar to any other sport in my opinion.
On a closing note, E-Sports is growing. It was already huge in South Korea and now it is a big deal in Europe and it is quickly growing in the US. So for all you haters out there, you can deny calling it a sport all you want, but sooner or later you are going to have to accept that the definition of athlete and sport is changing, and that E-Sports will one day become mainstream.
After much consideration, I've decided that I am going to write a paper about E-Sports, and that this served as jumping point. Thank you for reading.
There are major tournaments almost every month giving away a prize pool of $100,000 to players. The most famous of these events (in the US) is Major League Gaming's events. They are well attended, typically having 15-20k live viewers as well as having hundreds of thousands of viewers on a stream. There are some sports that don't even attract that kind of viewership but yet we still have the audacity to not consider E-Sports as something real.
Do you know what I think it is? I think E-Sports are not considered a sport by some because we don't have huge, muscle-infested, manly-men competing. Which begs us to reconsider what a sport should be. Why does it have to be physical? No, I think a sport should be redefined as "any activity which is performed in a competitive manner between two or more people, sometimes for a prize, monetary or otherwise." That seems like a fitting definition.
Additionally there is a certain stigma associated with E-Sports, that it is "nerdy" or "geeky." Sure, I'll meet you halfway on that one. But does that change it's status as a sport? I think not. Take fantasy football -- the people who play it track players, stats, match-ups, everything. All so they can build the ultimate team. If you ask me, that is way nerdier than Starcraft. At least in Starcraft, you are doing something. You are playing. You are being mentally and physically challenged. Starcraft players like to track stats of professional players as well, so that makes it very similar to any other sport in my opinion.
On a closing note, E-Sports is growing. It was already huge in South Korea and now it is a big deal in Europe and it is quickly growing in the US. So for all you haters out there, you can deny calling it a sport all you want, but sooner or later you are going to have to accept that the definition of athlete and sport is changing, and that E-Sports will one day become mainstream.
After much consideration, I've decided that I am going to write a paper about E-Sports, and that this served as jumping point. Thank you for reading.
No comments:
Post a Comment