The Changing Of A Definition

Here we are another Friday another Reader Post. Now I don't want to take away from this great post so I am going to let it speak for itself. It was sent in by Onzaylis and has to do with Esports and how it is changing things all around us. It is a great read and I thank him and everyone else who sent something in this week.

So, the E-Sports scene has come a long way. For those of you who don't know "E-Sports" is professional level competitive video games. It wasn't long ago that even big video game tournaments were only a couple thousand people, and very low budget affairs. This video is the Opening to the League of Legends Season 3 World Championship Finals.


This is how they opened what was ultimately just 3 games played to decide the best team for the season. BTW, that guitarist, that's Wes Borland, of Limp Bizkit.

That event... 3 games (could have been up to 7, still only a few hours), SOLD OUT the Staples Center. That's an 18,000 person capacity venue, completely sold out so that 10 players could duke it out on two teams for a couple hours and the winning team of 5 took home $1,000,000. These are video games packing drawing in crowds like that. On top of the people who showed up at the Staples Center, Hundreds of thousands more, maybe even millions watched it live through a number of video streaming services.

If in just a few years they've gotten this big, and this wasn't even the largest event in gaming. Not even close. All kinds of games have pro circuits, massive tournaments, huge fan turnouts. Sponsorship has breached the limit of tech companies, with brands like Coke now sponsoring teams and players. Where will these things be in another 3 years? 5, 10, 20??? How long until E-Sports competitions start competing with events like the baseball World Series, or the Superbowl for viewership. In South Korea they already have channels like ESPN dedicated to E-Sports, how long will it be until that spreads.

This excites me. This thrills me. The world is beginning to realize that sportsmanship talent isn't limited to who can throw a ball the farthest, or who knows how to swing a club. They are realizing that it's about who puts in the effort, the dedication, the work, and who is willing to compete. It's not just about muscle anymore, it's about mental skills. Even better, these are things that are easy to get into. Traditional sports, if you want to compete in any real way, you need specialized, often expensive equipment. Video games, you just need a PC or a console, something most people have laying around.

The definition of the word sport is changing, and it's a good thing.

Have a good weekend everyone!