Can a Video Game be a sport? William Loo
Hell yeah it can!
What defines a sport? Google = An activity involving physical exertion and skill in which an individual or team competes against another or others for entertainment.
eSports, ESPN2, ESPN3 The moment ESPN started hosting the League of Legends Championship series TWITTER BLEW UP! Gaming fans love it and “real” sports junkies hated the fact.
John Skipper President of ESPN The guy that approves this “It’s not a sport” “Mostly, I’m interested in doing real sports” This man and is outdated. Doesn’t have a twitter.
ESPN Sports and it’s qualifications? World Series of Poker No Team Based Competition No Strategy No signs of the players in peak physical form Cup Stacking Spelling Bee Scramble
Financials and audience NBA Finals (Heat and Spurs) ABC Year: 2013 Viewers: 26.3 million League Of Legends Twitch Viewers: 32 million
NBA LCS 30 teams Split into 2 sides (East and West conference) NBA Staff themselves pick whoever they want to join the NBA LCS 20 teams 2 Divisions (USA and Europe) Separate division for the World Tournament. Through there stats bar and ranking system whoever is on top will partificapte.
Sponsorship They both get sponsors. Sponsors even now are pulling out of “real” sports and are investing in eSports. Earning 1-2 million dollars in sponsorship.