Is computer gaming really a sport?

[Deleted]

Just read an article over on the BBC sport website, where the majority of this post comes from (can't post links) and thought this may be an interesting topic of discussion. I imagine it has been seen before but I can't see anything on the subject. Hopefully it's in the correct place.

At the 2015 Winter X Games in Aspen, there will be much that is radical – snowboarders, monoskiers, slopestylers and snowmobilers, all performing remarkable feats of athleticism, strength and dexterity. Usually in mid air. But most radical of all, there will also be men and women hunched over computers, blowing away imaginary baddies (and goodies) with imaginary machine guns, while thousands of real people watch and cheer. What’s more, they will be handing out medals for all this imaginary carnage – just like all the other sports. Which begs the question: is computer gaming really sport at all?


What is esports?
esports – or electronic sports – is the umbrella term for organised, competitive computer gaming, usually between professionals. Competitive computer gaming has been around since the days of Pong in the 1970s. But that gang of youths gathered around an Atari console in some lucky bleeder’s bedroom has become 40,000 fans in a football stadium, some of them in fancy dress, all of them glued to the action on giant screens. Imagine the PDC World Darts Championship at Alexandra Palace, times it by six, take away most of the booze and you get some idea of what major esports events are like.

As with traditional sports, esports consists of many different games. But those games don’t necessarily mimic traditional sports. For example, in Aspen the game of choice is Counter-Strike, a first-person shooter in which you choose to be either a terrorist or a counter-terrorist. No, you can’t be Lionel Messi. But the most popular is League of Legends, a multi-player strategy game whose Wikipedia description sounds like it was written by the lovechild of JRR Tolkien and C-3PO. To the uninitiated, it sounds as impenetrable as cricket.


Big business - online & in arenas
But there are plenty of people who get esports, in all its forms. In 2014 there were 205m viewers, according to Newzoo, which conducts market research for the computer games industry. The 2013 League of Legends world championship attracted 32m online viewers, more than double baseball’s World Series and even trumping game seven of basketball’s NBA finals. The 2014 League of Legends world championship attracted 40,000 fans to Sangam Stadium in Seoul, which hosted a football World Cup semi-final in 2002.

But while South Korea is considered by many to be the cradle of esports, it is now doing enormous business in Europe and North America. In July 2014, 11,000 fans watched an esports event in a Seattle basketball arena. The event offered the highest esports prize pool so far – $10.9m, more than golf’s USPGA Championship – and was streamed by US broadcasting giant ESPN.


The case FOR
Michal Blicharz, originally from Poland, is a former judoka who has fulfilled many roles in esports, from competitor to referee to coach. He now organises esports events around the world, on behalf of the Electronic Sports League (ESL), which Blicharz likens to the Football Association in England. Despite cheerfully referring to himself and his fellow esports enthusiasts as “nerds”, Blicharz passionately believes esports is indeed sport. “I’ve sweated on the judo mat enough times to have a good opinion about it,” he says.

“Judo and esports are not that dissimilar,” he adds. “There are tournaments, you have to climb up a ladder to eventually compete with the best. In terms of training you have to put in the same amount of hours, perhaps even more in esports. You study strategy, technique and opponents. All the elements are there – the excitement, the adrenalin, players crying tears of sorrow and joy.”

Blicharz concedes physical exertion in esports is minimal, although some players do get struck down with repetitive strain injuries. But the fact that most dictionary definitions of ‘sport’ include the words ‘physical’ or ‘athletic’ hasn’t prevented darts or snooker from shielding under the sporting umbrella. However, and in common with most people you speak to in the esports community, Blicharz doesn’t really care if people think esports is sport or not. esports is doing things its own way – and traditional sports should take note.


The case AGAINST
The US Government recognises esports players as professional athletes, at least where the granting of visas is concerned. But not everyone agrees. Despite ESPN dipping its toe into esports, its president John Skipper is distinctly lukewarm. “[esports] is not a sport,” he said, “it’s a competition. Mostly I’m interested in doing real sports.”

Tim Warwood is a former UK snowboarding champion who now commentates for the BBC. He agrees with Skipper that computer gaming is not a sport and believes esports should not have been included in the Winter X Games, which take place from 21-25 January.

“To have kids sitting there looking at computer screens indoors, alongside snowboarding and freestyle skiing and all the rest, it just doesn’t seem right,” he says. “When I was a kid, sport was all about getting outside, getting wet, muddy, out of breath – you’re not going to get out of breath smashing your thumbs on a controller. I just think it’s a bit weird really – but maybe I’m just getting old.”

However, Warwood remembers a time – not so long ago – when snowboarding wasn’t considered a real sport either and snowboarders were “outcasts and outsiders”. “When I started snowboarding,” he says, “my gran thought I was a professional snowballer – as in, I was throwing snowballs for a living.” So while Warwood believes that some athletes will be irritated by the inclusion of esports in the X Games, he speculates that some snowboarders and freestyle skiers might actually view computer gamers as kindred spirits.

TLDR: Is computer gaming a sport? What is your opinion on the subject?

[apepi]

If golf is a real sport, I think most things can be. I mean what would the real difference be from real golf and a simulated golf?

[Deleted]

I think it's easy to get bogged down in the "Sport?" question and kind of not see the bigger picture. There's no need for it to BE a sport in order to validate it's own existance.

I'm not sure if chess is considered a sport. If it is, videogame stuff should be considered a sport too. If not, then it shouldn't.

I really like e sports stuff, I used to be really into SC2 stuff. I can't really get behind "real sports" all that much, partly because I don't understand most of the games, and partly because it's all a bit... boring. Not the games themselves, I've never really watched those so I don't know. But the personalities, the players and stuff involved. I guess it's partly because they are so much bigger, and partly just the nature of sports, but like... there's virtually no viewer/player interaction in "real sports" at all. The players don't even really feel like real people, y'know. Wheras like... you can really get to know many players in e-sports stuff right? You can, for example, go and watch demuslim stream many of his practice games. People chat with him in his stream chat. Hell I even chatted to him once a bit about the EG shirts. How many footbal fans can go watch their favorite player practice and chat to them on the sidelines.

Also I like that esports is like... there's no natural ability involved, I don't think really. Anyone can do it you know. Doesn't matter if you're male, female, thin, fat, short, tall, ugly, pretty, paralysed from the waist down... whatever. Everyone who puts the work in can become good, and everyone can compete together. Means that no matter who you are, there is probably someone you can root for who is playing at a pretty high level. It's not like "Aw, shit, I'm only 6 foot tall and stopped growing, I guess that's the end of my basketball career" or "Aw shit, I'm female, I guess I'll never be able to be a famous football player" you know? Wheras like... with esports like... everyone has someone who they can look at and be like "Shit, that person is JUST like me and look how awesome they are doing! I wanna be awesome like that!" and it motivates you, you know. If you are a basketball fan and you are short, well, "tough luck lol" kinda thing

I'm not really sure if there is an exact definition of sport, and if there is, whether videogames can fall into that definition, but I don't think it matters either way. If it's not a sport, it doesn't need to be. It's as good as, or better than (in my opinion) many other sports without even needing to be a sport.

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If golf is a real sport, I think most things can be. I mean what would the real difference be from real golf and a simulated golf?

It's the same as stuff like darts, imo. It's not like, physical exertion, but there is a physical, mechanical skill that is required. You need to be able to swing hard and accurately. Or you need to be able to throw with precision.

I'm not saying that there isn't physical, mechanical skill involved in esports, but... I think that most people who don't do it wouldn't really understand. It's easy to look at golf and be like, "yeah, I can't swing a club that accurately / hard" but most people are like "Well, I can use a mouse and a keyboard, if I can do that, then it's not any mechanical skill" but obviously there's a huge gap between being able to move a mouse around, and moving it as fast and accurately as is required in e-sports. http://www.aimbooster.com/ is what I always use to demonstrate this, click challenge, try and keep going without failing for even 5 minutes. Shit's difficult. but it's difficult to see, as an "outsider" why that is any more difficult than moving your mouse and clicking on MS-Word.

[Deleted]

Depends on how you use the word sport. As describing a competitive event of some sort? Sure.
As physical or athletic exercise? Then not so much.

First of all, I'd say get the definitions in order before starting to discuss terms with several meanings.

[Sathnick]

It's called "E" Sport to indicate that it is non physical sports...which is just fine. This whole discussion whether it can be called a Sport and most of all if it is ok to watch Esport over real Sport is BS. People will choose to watch what they like and this is more and more Esports as well.

That being said, I think it's Kind of silly to mix Esport with traditional sports Events and I do agree that it seems Kind of akward.

[Deleted]

Depends on how you use the word sport. As describing a competitive event of some sort? Sure.
As physical or athletic exercise? Then not so much.

First of all, I'd say get the definitions in order before starting to discuss terms with several meanings.

Well, atheletic not so much, but there absolutley is a physical aspect to it

[MisterSuit]

Its a sport in the same way as chess. If you define sport as something athletic then no, its not a sport, its a competetive game.

[Deleted]

Sports aren't just competitive activities that require physical effort. Plenty of sports require mostly mental efforts.
Chess, Darts, Golf, Snooker - sports that rely mostly your brain's processing power and ability to make precise calculations.

You think a Darts player's skill comes from strength and endurance to effort? Not at all, it comes from his brain's ability to calculate the angle and strength required to throw an object so it hits a precise point.

[Deleted]

What is a sport? To me personally, a sport requires, you know, physically doing something. Like kicking around a bal, or running, or kicking some guy in the face, or other dumb stuff that makes you tired and sweaty.

When I say to my friends, lets go do some sport, I don't mean going inside and gaming, I mean kicking around a bal, running, or hitting, grabbing and trowing each other around.

I like esports, but to me it isn't really a sport, its more comparable to chess, darts and snooker. (Even tough esports are much more exciting then chess, darts or snooker)

[Deleted]

What is a sport? To me personally, a sport requires, you know, physically doing something. Like kicking around a bal, or running, or kicking some guy in the face, or other dumb stuff that makes you tired and sweaty.

When I say to my friends, lets go do some sport, I don't mean going inside and gaming, I mean kicking around a bal, running, or hitting, grabbing and trowing each other around.

Is chess a sport? No, it is not.

Should gaming by a part of the olympics? No, the old Greeks would turn around in their graves.

But some sort of olympic competition for gaming? Yeah, sure, I would watch starcraft olympics

Again, there is absolutley a physical aspect to videogames. It's not the "lots of movement till you are hot and sweaty" kind, more like the "careful, accurate movements" kind. Like golf or snooker or darts or something.

[Ichifails]

Sport is generally recognised as activities which are based in physical athleticism or physical dexterity, with the largest major competitions such as the Olympic Games admitting only sports meeting this definition, and other organisations such as the Council of Europe using definitions precluding activities without a physical element from classification as sports. However, a number of competitive, but non-physical, activities claim recognition as mind sports. The International Olympic Committee (through ARISF) recognises both chess and bridge as bona fide sports, and SportAccord, the international sports federation association, recognises five non-physical sports,although limits the amount of mind games which can be admitted as sports.


They don't NEED to be classified as a sport. They do fit the definition if needed though. Strongest argument against is "for me sports need to be physical" and that's bullshit.
I mean even "athlete" comes from the greek word for contestant

"The word "athlete" is a romanization of the Greek: άθλητὴς, athlētēs, one who participates in a contest; from ἄθλος, áthlos, or ἄθλον, áthlon, a contest or feat."

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Again, there is absolutley a physical aspect to videogames. It's not the "lots of movement till you are hot and sweaty" kind, more like the "careful, accurate movements" kind. Like golf or snooker or darts or something.

You are referring to one of the defining characteristics of a sport, dexterity.

"Fine motor skill is the coordination of small muscle movements—usually involving the synchronization of hands and fingers—with the eyes. The term dexterity is commonly used to define the relationship between the fingers and eyes."

[Pua]

I don’t know, it’s hard.

Many people classify sports as solely physical pursuits, where others consider mental skills such as snooker or darts as deserving the title. Under the second guise, that’d mean that gaming is a sport, just not an athletic one. Others refuse to accept that darts or snooker are sports, and that they’re more pastimes than anything else.

I’m cool with either view, until I consider World Wrestling Entertainment. It’s physical, it requires skill and concentration, but it’s also staged. Surely it’s a sport, rather than “sports entertainment”? Well, I don’t know anybody who’d go with that.

Perhaps, then, sport is defined more by competition than it is anything else. The desire to compete with another player or team, defeat them, and be the best at your chosen pursuit.

Meh, I still can’t decide. Sorry, thread.

[Deleted]

It's an electronic sport, which is related to regular sports. I don't really see it as a complicated issue personally. I don't think anyone has ever said "playing league of legends is the same as being a professional footballer", but there are definitely professional gamers, and esports is a term that's been around long enough to be accepted.

I would not find it acceptable for someone to say I'm a professional sports player if they were referring to video games, but to say a professional electronic sports player - definitely.

[Deleted]

Again, there is absolutley a physical aspect to videogames. It's not the "lots of movement till you are hot and sweaty" kind, more like the "careful, accurate movements" kind. Like golf or snooker or darts or something.

To me sports is exactly this. But thats my personal opinion. I like to play pool in the pub and I'm quite good at it when I'm sober, but to me its not a sport, its a game.

You have games in sport: following rules so you can have 2 or more competitors competing for the most points or the fastest time in order to win the game.

But actual sports is the actual movement 'till you're hot and sweaty. (in my personal opinion, I'm not going to hijack to word sports for my own personal use).

And yes, sex could be considered a sport in that definition, its a sport, but not a game (because in sex, ideally all competing parties are winners).

[Spl4sh3r]

I think that we need to start to seperate sports from esports and use different terms for them. Even if we in the end starts considering them as a sport or not. One is actual sports and the other virtual.

[Deleted]

Also I think the important thing is "real sports" don't have Scarlett.

[RicardoZ]

I don't see why not. If the world series of poker can get on ESPN, I don't see why esports shouldn't be called "sports".

[Kaleredar]

I'm going to go with "no." And for the record, I also don't consider poker or other such card games "sports."

There's none of that "unpredictability." You can know when to do things, how to do things, how to interact with teammates, sure... but that's it. After that, the buttons are going to do exactly what they've been programmed to do, and you can't hit them any more or less hard to change that. You can't "push your character," because your character is going to have exactly X amount of health and take Y amount of damage, or be able to travel at some set speed and be under the jurisdiction of set ability cooldowns. You're using characters designed to have exact, specific limitations pre-programmed into them... or at least, a maximum for them to achieve.

In "real" physical sports, well, that isn't necessarily the case. You can argue "well the human body has just as many defined limitations, and you could theoretically gauge the limitations of an athlete based on..." And perhaps you'd be right. But all of that is, essentially, unknowable by anyone until they push what someone conceives is the limit. And that's where it becomes "exciting."

And so that's where "real" and "online" sports differ for me. In "real" sports, the barriers are unknown, and it's having to push to those barriers that makes them "real." In video games, none of that is the case.

[Anium]

Just because it's given the sport tag doesn't mean it has to make you perspire from every pore in your body. So yes it should be considered a sport, an E sport, emphasis on the E.
Look at golf, or even better yet darts...have you seen those men + (women).
I'd be interested to know if John Skipper thinks darts is more of a sport than competitve gaming... both take place indoors, both are practised by generally overweight people, both trying to hit targets, one with a mouse the other with the dart. Shit, i'd say a competive game of LoL at worlds is far more phyically and mentally demanding than a competive game of darts. Just to give an example.

TL : DR It's an E sport.

[RH92]

I don't understand the social stigma against playing video games.

It is what a modern technology allows, that's it. Chess in medieval era was what Starcraft II (Or any other game) is to us now, it is a game that requite specific set of skills. Why is Chess considered completely fine by society? When considering a physical movement, I only need to be able to move my hand while playing it.

Is it "I don't understand it, therefore it is bad!"?

I'd be interested to know if John Skipper thinks darts is more of a sport than competitve gaming... both take place indoors, both are practised by generally overweight people, both trying to hit targets, one with a mouse the other with the dart.

I wonder if he and Tim Warwood noticed some "real" sports as Ice Hockey or Basketball are mainly played inside.