Should eSports Be Considered Sports?

In this article, we will offer a point of view on this matter, to try and shed some light on one of the most actual debates in the field of online gaming. So, if you’re an eSports enthusiast and want to legitimate your answers when you debate this with friends, or if you’re skeptical about eSports belonging to the traditional field of sports, you came to the right place. Let’s find out more about this!

Origins and Characteristics of eSports

How were eSports born? Some people trace the origins back to the first video game tournament that was held in 1972 for the game Space. What was the prize? The prize was a year-long subscription to Rolling Stone magazine and some free beer. Not too bad! Nowadays, prizes in eSports competitions such as LoL Worlds are quite lucrative with large purses, as the field developed from amateurish to a real industry with organized tournaments, interviews, dedicated followers and much more. 

Athletic Prowess Versus Mental Aptitude

Still, many sports enthusiasts still frown at the idea that eSports should even be considered in the same league as “normal” sports. Why? The answer is multi-layered. First of all, sports often involve athletic practice, where the body requires hard training. Gamers are not always fit, and the same goes for people playing eSports. The training is, simply, different. One could argue that only some sports require this kind of training and that many other sports, such as chess and orienteering, require different kinds of skills such as strategy, coordination and agility. Perhaps not as taxing as traditional sports such as soccer or rugby, eSports can still be very demanding on the body, and most of all, on the mind.

One thing that should be taken into account when thinking about whether eSports belong to the field of sports, is the fact that not every eSport is the same, and not every gamer plays in the same way. There are different categories of games, and they all require different skills and expertise, not to mention a little bit of luck! That being said, approaching any kind of game with a fair amount of training, and a good knowledge of rules and probabilities, is always a good choice.

Understanding eSports

In this era, things tend to have an e-equivalent. The electronic format seems to be quite fundamental for our society, and it is quite normal that an electronic version of sports eventually developed. But, do we all understand what eSports really are? Probably not. They are virtual games, such as CSGO or League of Legends where gamers and teams compete against each other, and the first to complete a certain goal wins (sound familiar, right?).

This notion also spreads into other sports areas like odds-tracking and gambling, where sports equivalent games are coming to the e-world, for example CSGO lucky wheel is a replica of sports slots, whereas odds tracking is fundamentally one of the most popular and exciting ways to stay in the loop with latest games in both eSports and sports (especially during seasonal events).

Athletes are divided, as some of them are keen to consider eSports as just “different” sports, but others openly mock them. At this point, it is even worth considering the importance of this debate. Is it even important whether eSports should or shouldn’t be considered real sports? Well, in a sense it does. Aside from public recognition, which is always validating and could be important for the self-perception of gamers and followers, there are many other aspects to take into consideration when thinking about this.

Rules, Regulations and Standards

One of the most important aspects of this debate is the matter of regulations. If eSports are considered sports, then they should be regulated accordingly. On the other hand, if they fail to be considered as sports, due to their number of followers and their overall increasing popularity, other types of regulations should be found. When it comes to rules and regulations, labeling is important from an institutional point of view.

Another important consideration is the matter of ownership, as sports, in a more traditional sense, do not belong to anyone. Of course, then there are sponsors, teams and other aspects that are regulated also from a perspective of ownership and partnership. But when it comes to eSports tournaments, gamers and much more, the aspect of ownership must work differently even just because of the presence of an external game, which was developed and sold by a specific company or a specific developer.

This is perhaps one of the most important aspects that should be taken into consideration when debating whether eSports should be considered sports or not, and on which regulations should then work to regulate this beloved field of healthy and entertaining technological competition.