Esports, some know what it is, some enjoy it, some don't get it, and as I've been "told" before "but that's not a sport". Esports has come quite a ways since its big integration into society back in 2002 with the inception of MLG(Major League Gaming) and its come to grow and expand to be widely televised on
ESPN with
prize pools soaring into the $100 million mark and its showing no sign of stopping. Before being closed down to make way for other ventures, the developer Activision-Blizzard was offering up to $75,000 worth of scholarship money to winners of its Heroes of The Dorm competition(aimed exclusively at collegiate players). Now that it has soared to such great heights the question is what next? The answer is not as clear cut as it may seem. there are currently talks of getting city teams(similar to MLB, NBA, and NFL), where teams will have home and away games and compete with one another. These cities can be apart of the city in the same way that some people follow the Oakland Raiders they can follow their home Esports team. Where Esports struggles to take off is revenue streams, these Developers that make these games are pulling in billions at years end so for Esports to effectively be a part of that it needs to equal roughly 10% of that revenue stream. The current
leaders in Esports content is Activision-Blizzard who run the Overwatch League and Tencent with their League of Legends Championship series, these two are powerhouses in the competitive gaming scene and they are the only viable options right now when it comes to revenue and advertisers coming in to really publicize it and truly bring it to the forefront with other sports. As more leagues are created for different games we may truly see a rise in Esports popularity and while some see it as a joke or gimmick or fad those who compete and those who enjoy watching, we, we are the fore bearers who will say we were there from the beginning we can help bring our favortie pastime the recognition it deserves.
Esports, some know what it is, some enjoy it, some don't get it, and as I've been "told" before "but that's not a sport". Esports has come quite a ways since its big integration into society back in 2002 with the inception of MLG(Major League Gaming) and its come to grow and expand to be widely televised on ESPN with prize pools soaring into the $100 million mark and its showing no sign of stopping. Before being closed down to make way for other ventures, the developer Activision-Blizzard was offering up to $75,000 worth of scholarship money to winners of its Heroes of The Dorm competition(aimed exclusively at collegiate players). Now that it has soared to such great heights the question is what next? The answer is not as clear cut as it may seem. there are currently talks of getting city teams(similar to MLB, NBA, and NFL), where teams will have home and away games and compete with one another. These cities can be apart of the city in the same way that some people follow the Oakland Raiders they can follow their home Esports team. Where Esports struggles to take off is revenue streams, these Developers that make these games are pulling in billions at years end so for Esports to effectively be a part of that it needs to equal roughly 10% of that revenue stream. The current leaders in Esports content is Activision-Blizzard who run the Overwatch League and Tencent with their League of Legends Championship series, these two are powerhouses in the competitive gaming scene and they are the only viable options right now when it comes to revenue and advertisers coming in to really publicize it and truly bring it to the forefront with other sports. As more leagues are created for different games we may truly see a rise in Esports popularity and while some see it as a joke or gimmick or fad those who compete and those who enjoy watching, we, we are the fore bearers who will say we were there from the beginning we can help bring our favortie pastime the recognition it deserves.
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