E-sports Gaining Recognition As a Sport

The E-sports market has gained a lot of new additions and received a high interest from mainstream media. Consequently, the eSports market experienced a rapid growth which poses the question what challenges the market will have to face in the upcoming year.

A traditional sports fan may scoff at that notion, as the video-game geek tag often gets tossed around. ESPN.com now has its own E-sports landing page. Top pro gamers are already millionaires and the League of Legends World Championship Final at the 17,000-seat Mercedes-Benz Arena in Germany, sold out in three minutes.

 E-sports Broken Down

What is eSports exactly? In simple terms, eSports is a community of organized  multiplayer video game competitions that has been taken to the professional and  elite level.

The main video game niches that these competitions are built around include  Real-Time Strategy
Fighting,First-Person Shooter and Multiplayer Online Battle Arena

some of the most popular eSports’ events  are The International, League of Legends World Championship, Battle.net World Championship Series, Evolution Championship Series and the Intel Extreme Masters.

Starcraft was the first big E-sport and it was big back in the middle 2000s. Broadband internet has opened so many doors  to make it a global game. The sport has really taken off in the last few years. E-sports hasn’t even reached its peak yet.

E-sports  Equals Big Money

The whole E-sports community is actually starting to reel in a ton of revenue and they’re doing it fast. The phenomenon, which largely started at home, has now grown to be held in giant arenas around the world. With live broadcasts of their very packed events.E-sports are finding it easier and easier to find sponsors for their brand.

This year, the E-sports community is expected to bring in $162 million in revenue. This is in large part due to the overwhelming increase in exposure and coverage of their events. In 2015, it was estimated that nearly 71,500,000 watched eSports’ events. Those numbers are only expected to rise, especially seeing how much easier it’s becoming to watch these events. Many networks including Fox sports, ESPN, and TNT are vying to land E-sports content to their networks.

Performing Well In a Video Games Require Skills

Like all skill-based competition in society, video games have a sense of competitiveness that drives individuals to perform to their utmost ability. Not everyone can become an e-athlete and that title is reserved for those that put in the effort to train and dedicate themselves to their sport much like athletes in football, soccer, baseball, and other games that are commonly considered “sports.

Many pro E-sports players now have  nutritionists, and you absolutely can’t be fatigued mentally to succeed in this world. A typical game can last anywhere from  45 -60 minutes and there are typically best-of-three or best-of-five series.

There is a reason there is an “E” at the beginning of E-sports. It’s “electronic sports and its competitive entertainment.