The Next Big Thing In Sports - Video Games!

[Solid Snake]

I thought this was interesting so I wanted to share this post I read on Forbes.
What do you guys think of video games and gaming becoming a legit sport?

Most everyone, even the most casual sports fan, knows about Stephen Curry, the sharp shooting Golden State Warriors guard and reigning two-time NBA most valuable player whose team continues its title defense this week against the equally ubiquitous LeBron James of the Cleveland Cavaliers. But do you know who Peter Dager is? If you don’t, you soon might.

Dager plays video games for a living – very successfully at that, having made over $2 million in his career and piling up more than 100,000 Twitter TWTR -0.43% followers (His team, Evil Geniuses, has nearly 270,000 followers, which is almost double the amount of the Portland Timbers, the reigning Major League Soccer champions).

Before you ask ‘How is that possible?’ or ‘Why would anyone watch people play a video game?,’ consider that so-called esports is slated to generate more than $400 million in worldwide revenues in 2016, according to data analytics firm Newzoo. That’s up 43 percent from just last year. By 2019, that figure is expected to exceed $1 billion, Newzoo says.

It’s, therefore, easy to see why some are calling esports potentially the next big thing in tech, possibly surpassing the next version of the iPhone, driverless cars and virtual reality. Video games, of course, have been big business in this country ever since Atari rolled out its gaming console during the early 80s, when offerings like ‘Pac Man,’ ‘Space Invaders’ and ‘Asteroids’ became an ingrained part of the popular culture. Now, games are becoming more realistic, intricate and immersive with each passing day.

Still, doubters persist. No one will watch that, they say, in part because it doesn’t require the skill of traditional sports like football, baseball or basketball. But these skeptics are missing the point – that’s the beauty of esports, because unlike the National Basketball Association or the National Football League, for example, there are very few physical barriers to entry.

Carolina Panthers quarterback Cam Newton is 6’5” and over 250 pounds. Very few of us can relate to that type of size, much less the talent he combines with it. The same goes for virtually every other professional athlete alive. Video games, however, are more inclusive.

Moreover, there were similar doubts about the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s (UFC) ability to become mainstream. It’s too barbaric, the naysayers claimed. Sen. John McCain famously called it ‘human cockfighting.’ Safe to say that the UFC has proved those doubters wrong, with news reports surfacing in recent weeks indicating that the organization is on the block and could sell for as much as $4 billion.

Fueling UFC’s rise in the beginning was that boxing had lost favor with most of the general public, thanks to a lack of star power and its alphabet soup of multiple competing governing bodies. Equally important, though, was its masterful business model, which relied on cheap content (most fighters made very little initially) and an aggressive marketing push to promote its individual stars, including early favorites such as Chuck Liddell, Tito Ortiz and Randy Couture.

Once people got to know the personalities, it was clear they weren’t animals and the sport started to grow exponentially. The same thing could happen with esports: The costs are manageable and thanks to social media it’s easier than ever for the individual players and teams to market themselves and communicate directly with potential fans.

Gaming companies Electronic Arts EA -1.29% and Activision Blizzard certainly see this as a fertile opportunity, having recently devoted significant resources to this growing area of their businesses. Both have started their own esports divisions within the last 12 months, while Activision Blizzard also bought Major League Gaming, an events organizer with content delivery capabilities, with the hopes of turning it into the ‘ESPN of esports,’ in the words of president and CEO Bobby Kotick.

Facebook FB +0.53% is natural for esports as well, possessing the platform to live stream events, and Amazon is already doing this through its ownership of Twitch. ESPN, for its part, has already aired competitions, while TBS last month debuted ELeague, a 24-team live gaming tournament showcase that will span ten episodes this summer. Even colleges are getting in on the action, with the Pac-12 Network recently announcing that it too will carry events featuring competitors from its member schools.

If the notion of watching someone else play a video game seems weird, then paying for that opportunity is probably unthinkable. But what the doubters of esports don’t understand is that younger people think it’s weird to watch people play golf or even baseball on television.

Esports is ready to explode. It’s not fad. So get used to hearing the name Peter Dager and people talk about games like ‘Dota 2,’ ‘League of Legends’ and ‘Heroes of the Storm.’ They are about go to mainstream.

Source

 

[Swift]

Pokemon >

 

[Solid Snake]

Pokemon >

 

[Roadster]

Yes, let's care less and less about people who train and live for legitimate competition so we can pour millions into fat Asian kids playing games.

 

[Stopspot]

It really shouldn't. But this development annoys me to no end

 

[Forrest OAKADA]

It really shouldn't. But this development annoys me to no end

Same, I can't fucking stand CS:GO and League of Legends E-Sports, Especially when they promote it as being "A developing sport" and hold it in Football stadiums and what not. I'm up for playing competitive tourneys but when it comes to E-Sports, that crosses the line for me.

E-Sports should Fuck off.

 

[Aids Johnson]

People who make a living gaming to me are no worse than people making a living doing youtube reaction videos or let's plays. It's never going to be as legit a sport as NFL, NBA, etc, but honestly if you are getting thousands of people watching you play, or becoming one of the top players in the world - of course you are going to make cash.

I'm betting he also has a youtube channel, and it helps with channels like Rocket League's own, which helps put more money back into the game to stop DLC costs from being outrageous. It's been happening for years with some games, I couldn't honestly care less about some "fat asian" or anything else making money off the game they play. That's mostly RTS and arcade beatemups, which have been paying out cash for forever.

 

[Messiah1]

Call of Duty is already a sport.. It's the only game that needs to be a sport, because it's the best game ever.

 

[TheTNHMaster]

Yes, let's care less and less about people who train and live for legitimate competition so we can pour millions into fat Asian kids playing games.

Most guys who are playing are actually fit.

 

[Roadster]

Most guys who are playing are actually fit.

It's just an exaggeration to explain that unathletic people choose to play video games, rather than train for actual physical competition.

 

[TheTNHMaster]

It's just an exaggeration to explain that unathletic people choose to play video games, rather than train for actual physical competition.

I mean I'm no fan of E-sports, but why train for something you have no interest in?

 

[Stopspot]

I mean I'm no fan of E-sports, but why train for something you have no interest in?

I think the issue in this matter is is that there's a push to consider games a sport. Which by nature they cannot be.

Sports are athletic by nature and definition. As much as the competitive gaming community wants it to be, competitive gaming is not athletic. It is much more a mental exercise.

I have no problem about professional and competitive gaming being a thing. but Call of Duty is not a sport.

 

[RedDwarfTechy]

I think the issue in this matter is is that there's a push to consider games a sport. Which by nature they cannot be.

Sports are athletic by nature and definition. As much as the competitive gaming community wants it to be, competitive gaming is not athletic. It is much more a mental exercise.

I have no problem about professional and competitive gaming being a thing. but Call of Duty is not a sport.

I agree that it shouldnt be call sports. It should be called what it is, competitive gaming or just outright competition. Like Chess.

I have no issues with people doing it or it getting hyped. It is an eventuality with how much money these gaming companies are pouring into it, for them it's like getting in on the ground level of an unlicensed event that will help them sell their own products.

EA's E3 was mostly devoted to just that, Madden/BF/etc all launching massive competitions. It takes skill to be the best at anything really, it takes hours of dedication even if its 'just' a video game

Now whether the hype is warranted or not, that's totally subjective. I never found eSports interesting at the least but i LOVE games. really. I am a gamer through and through but I rather be playing Madden than watch someone do it. That said, Pewdepie's earnings is proof that people like watching others play games (albeit there is the whole theatrics of presentation when you do a let's play and not so much on eSports).