Source: DoteSports

This controversy has been around for many years, and this picture perfectly represents it. Is eSports really a sport?

First Point of Analysis

So what are the qualities that make an activity a sport? Oxford defines a sport as something that requires skill or physical prowess. Things like football, bowling, baseball, etc. are all great examples of this. But who would consider eSports to be something like this? Obviously, they would need to watch an event to truly understand the skill required to compete at this level of play. As anyone could see, people need to realize that the expertise needed to play at this level is very high, and it takes a lot of dedication to make it there. Here the players stand ready to compete for massive amounts of prize money.

Second Point of Analysis

eSports gives salaries to players just like in the NFL or the NBA, just not as high. This is mainly because of the field not being as publicly known as some of the other sports that have been around for much longer. The first eSports tournament was held in 1972, whereas the first collegiate football game was held int he 1800’s. Professional eSports are known as events that an audience attends and watches while rooting for someone or a particular team. It sounds a lot like what happens at a football game, doesn’t it? The similarities between the two are there, and this picture shows the relationship well.

Third Point of Analysis

What comprises a professional sports team? A coach, players, managers, and staff. All of these are included in an eSports team. That is everyone depicted in the picture above. Someone needs to keep track of the players by coaching them to do better, while managers need to recruit players and manage their salaries. This controversy seems to revolve around the sole fact that eSports players are not doing something that involves huge arenas, except it does. For one of the most popular events in the world, Worlds for League of Legends, over 330 million people were watching the game live. That is over three times as many people that watched the Super Bowl this past year.

Conclusion

This picture absolutely depicts eSports as a growing sport in the industry and argues that it hold the same qualities, if not more, as the leading sports that everyone watches today. The picture depicts the eSports community as something that is a serious business with sponsors and hundreds of millions of fans and should be recognized as such.