Could Esports be as popular as sports?

[Deleted]

Not calling it e-"sports" would be a great start in making it seem less pretentious to the masses.

[kail]

Not calling it e-"sports" would be a great start in making it seem less pretentious to the masses.

What would be a better name?

[Kathranis]

Long term? Absolutely. It's already getting there for younger people.

As kids grow up plugged in to digital platforms and playing games they'll have less interest in traditional sports broadcasts and events, at least unless traditional sports make a big push to go after younger demographics.

[Joeygiggles]

Ill say no and the main reason for that is ease of following the game.
The reason for that is that many of these games have shifting views of players and different areas of maps that are focused on. In general sports the entire map and all players are on the map and can see what everyone is doing.
OWL has shown some good improvements on this but even some gamer friends of mine still ask "WTF is going on?"
When you look at the arenas for Esports or even viewing of it, it will never reach the Pro Sports level.
Now is it more entertaining...Yes. With certain sports.
IMO it beats soccer, basketball, baseball, nascar, and boxing, but thats mainly because I know what happening in both and find Esports better in that regard

[skannerz22]

they're already more popular

[micwini]

In general yes, however there are so many games out there that the viewer base will be spread very thin. People will only watch the games they are interested in.

[Kuntantee]

I am quite positive that e-sports will be mainstream form of entertainment.

- - - Updated - - -

Not calling it e-"sports" would be a great start in making it seem less pretentious to the masses.

e-sports is a proper term. I can't see a problem with it. Could you clarify which part is pretentious?

[kail]

In general yes, however there are so many games out there that the viewer base will be spread very thin. People will only watch the games they are interested in.

This is an excellent point.

[Xofa]

It already is....

Kid.. please......

/facepalm x100

[Nihilist74]

I think it could in the near future. I think they need more of a spectator camera view to make them more entertaining to watch. They need to do a better job of this to make it more entertaining to watch like real life sports camera work. With sports like football, boxing, mma hockey and other violent sports that are not very good for your health, I could see esports take over.

[schwank05]

I don't watch either so IDK. I couldn't get into watching other people play video games though, Id just play them myself.

[Deleted]

"e-sports" are so boring to watch though.

I'm happy people enjoy that crap, but I just don't get it. It's right up there with watching other people play games on twitch. It doesn't make any sense.

Honestly no different than people watching people playing soccer. Good they can enjoy it, but make no sense to be. *shrugs*

[Beazy]

Give it 20 years and Overwatch finals will be like the NBA finals.

It will be commercialized like a Big Mac. There is a TON of money to be made.

[Extremities]

Short answer - No.

Long answer - It won't because there's a stigma attached to video games that they're for "kids" when probably a majority of gamers are adults and into their 40's and 50's. I'd wager to say that most women who have boyfriends who are adults and play video games look down upon it. I know one of my ex-girlfriends brother in law loved games and his wife and in-laws absolutely loathed it and thought of it as a huge joke. The overall look of video games in the public eye is that they're for kids. That alone will make it not be as big as regular sports. As a ex pro athlete and a massive gamer, games in my opinion don't belong in the sports limelight nor should it. Is the gaming community and games in general incredibly big? Yes, it's one of, if not the biggest form of entertainment coming close to Movies. But as popular as regular sports? No.

Alot of gamers don't have an ounce of athleticism or coordination nor do gamers bodies have to be in peak shape to perform. Shit, look at most of these "esports" players. Most of them look like straight up goobers, a lot of them overweight. It's harsh to say but it's a reality. This is all coming from someone who absolutely looooves video games and plays them for hours daily but no, games won't be as big as regular sports, at least not anytime soon. Possibly in the future? Never say never.

[Yriel]

Is being a gamer a cult? How long ago was DOTA (from Warcraft 3)? How long ago was doom (the one that you can't aim vertically).

But once I touch those game, I am a gamer now even 2018 like 20 fucking years later, where I can sign out of this cult of yours LOL

No and there is no membership card either.
What i wanted to say is that you played those games and know their rules and difficulties. If you played fps you probably know how much more difficult it is to shoot while running or hit a moving target with a sniper. You know what you can and can't see with your field of view.. stuff like that. And you played Dota. You know that there are lanes, there is a laning phase, heroes don't have all their abilities from the start or have to upgrade them, they counter each other and have to buy items and stuff. You know how these games are played.
So even if you watch LoL (or any moba that you have never played) you'd probably get a lot more out of it than someone who never played a Moba, even if you don't know the heroes and items. And you can probably acknowledge the diffficulty of a great shot in CS more than someone who only plays candy crush on their phone.

[RobertMugabe]

Do you think Esports will ever become as popular as football, basketball or baseball? Will the finals of say, an Overwatch tournament be viewed by as many people as the Super Bowl?

I don't think that esports will ever be as popular as "normal" Sports... its growth will eventually slow down and esports are still very niche right now.
They may become Mainstream in the future.

[Yriel]

Complicated? Baseball can bring up rules that have not been used in over 50 years while the NFL changes the rules every year or so, Esports is in no way complicated compared to traditional sports.

Well as a european i don't get this baseball thing in the first place. Even in tv shows people make fun about that noone gets the rules and people only go to baseball games to eat fast food.
But american football... i don't watch it very much (pretty much only the superbowl now and then since it is free and all normal games are on pay tv) but i find it pretty easy to follow, even though i don't know any rules.

[Ardac]

Which E-sport has have viewership that rivals

Superbowl/NFL in general
World Cup
Indy 500
Monaco Grand Prix
Daytona 500
Wimbledon
Boxing world title matches
UFC main events

I just don't believe it.

Not yet but in time I think it will.

At this moment I cant picture hosueholds playing money equal to some of these for a night PPV of an event.
"Tonights 6 hr OWL event, just $80!". It is why they offer prizes / titles to tune in.

However, as in not any time soon. I can picture more and more sports becoming Esports. Mostly as head injury becomes more and more a thing and as virtual reality gets better and better. Now these esports may even actually be people doing virtual racing, ufc, boxing, other current sports. But it will still surpass live sports IMO.

[lordjust]

No, sports are easier to understand to everyone, even those who don't know rules, while games require you to at least know the basic rules of the game to not only enjoy, but also to understand what's happening on the screen.

Someone just kicked the ball and landed it inside the gate - easy to understand. Someone who who managed to land 4 blind powershots as a WR or got out from a really dirty gank - is not easy to understand

It really depends on the game and sport. I can watch football (soccer) and understand only a fraction of what's going on, why does someone get a yellow or red card, why is tha game paused and so on. American Football or baseball I have absolutely no clue what's going on, even after watching a game. There are some basic rules someone has to know to understand what's going on. As a european football (soccer) is ver easy to understand because everyone has played it in school and the same goes for something like tennis or basketball.

The same principal applies to games or e-sports. You have to have a basic understanding of some games to understand if the goal is objectiv based or a simple deathmatch or other variation. The thing about e-sports is that a lot of rules or basic understandiong can be transferred over to other games. Deathmatch is always the same principal and isn't different in Unreal Tournament or Quake or any other game. Same for CTF or capture and hold.

Could e-sports be as or even more popular than other sports like football? Yes, they could. Football (soccer) is the number one sport world wide because it's played by the youth everywhere on the world and you don't need much to actually play it. With games and especially e-sport titles gaining popularity it could overtake some of the classic sports in popularity.

[Blueobelisk]

At this moment I cant picture hosueholds playing money equal to some of these for a night PPV of an event.
"Tonights 6 hr OWL event, just $80!". It is why they offer prizes / titles to tune in.

Why not? People pay to watch Blizzcon with a virtual ticket. It's pretty much the same thing. (Except I think paying to see Blizzcon is more dumb.)