[marcoloco]

Video game competitions are now considered sports?

[Axman3000]

If you have seen how these guys prepare and play it's as much of a sport as anything else. E-Sport players have ridiculously long practicing sessions and the matches themselves are just as strategic as any other sport. It's not just a bunch of people running around killing each other on a screen. I don't think it's fun to watch myself and when I do play a game I just want to have some fun but I do appreciate the work and dedication that goes into professional gaming. My brother was in E-Sports from the management/ownership side and I felt the same way most people did until I witnessed the inner workings of E-Sports.

[RudyRuetigger]

its not a sport

and neither is poker

golf is

bowling is where I draw the line and say it is a sport

[Axman3000]

I think the main problem is how people define a sport. Sports don't have to be physically demanding in the sense of using physical muscles. Mental toughness is just as valid when considering an "athlete". I guess it really dosen't matter in the end if people enjoy the structured competition.

[Cuse0323]

I'm an athlete if mental toughness counts. Laying here using my thumbs to type. Can't stand, but my mind is running. Physically deteriorated, so even better.

[Seto]

If you have seen how these guys prepare and play it's as much of a sport as anything else. E-Sport players have ridiculously long practicing sessions and the matches themselves are just as strategic as any other sport. It's not just a bunch of people running around killing each other on a screen. I don't think it's fun to watch myself and when I do play a game I just want to have some fun but I do appreciate the work and dedication that goes into professional gaming. My brother was in E-Sports from the management/ownership side and I felt the same way most people did until I witnessed the inner workings of E-Sports.

Not often do you see a well-articulated, open-minded post like this on SBR.

[marcoloco]

This also takes alot of time, dedication and practice

[marcoloco]

I understand the fun of video games and competitive playing. I am just surprised there is actually going to be "professional" players. I guess back in the day when Baseball was first becoming a professional sport, maybe people thought of it as a joke.
"you are going to be a paid to hit a ball with a stick" but look at it now. Getting paid millions.
20 years from now, professional video gaming could be normal with even College scholarships being offered. So bizarre.

[DwightShrute]

Video game competitions are now considered sports?

they are building stadiums for it.

https://techcrunch.com/2017/09/07/bl...a-los-angeles/

[eidolon]

It's hard to point to when it started, but Quake, Unreal Tournament, and Warcraft were the beginning of tournaments like Quakecon back around 1996-2000. You could probably go back before that even for Street Fighter 2 tournaments and even pac-man. But leagues/seasons started around 2000; so it's not like this it is a new 'sport'.

[Pauulzcappin]

e-sports have the softest lines at the moment. a league of legends team was playing with a complete fill squad from a tier 3 organization and books didn't even know.

cleveland, houston and golden state have league of legends teams for the usa national championship that starts in january

[Auto Donk]

haven't made it to "e-sports" yet, still stuck on "DD-sports"....

[Axman3000]

This also takes alot of time, dedication and practice

It's a routine in a variety show. If there were a dedicated standard of scoring flag spinning along with the primary purpose of planning the routine for competition then it could be a sport. It would be an incredibly boring sport though.