Is esports a sport Debate and solution PDF

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COLUMN: Is esports a sport?By Jasmina Charania The Red & Black May 26, 2020COLUMN: Is esports a sport?One of the few competitive activities unhindered by COVID-19 restrictions, professional video gaming, better known as esports, has an identity problem. Popular games that have developed dedicate...

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COLUMN: Is esports a sport? By Jasmina Charania The Red & Black May 26, 2020 COLUMN: Is esports a sport?

One of the few competitive activities unhindered by COVID-19 restrictions, professional video gaming, better known as esports, has an identity problem. Popular games that have developed dedicated esports leagues include "League of Legends," "Call of Duty," "Dota 2" and "Overwatch." One competitor, Tyler Blevins, or "Ninja," amassed followings on YouTube and the streaming site Twitch numbering in the tens of millions. Esports has arrived and it's popular, but the debate still rages on whether Blevins, or any of his professional gaming colleagues, can be considered an athlete. According to Merriam-Webster, the definition of the word sport is “a contest or game in which people do certain physical activities according to a specific set of rules and compete against each other.” Other popular definitions include the words “skill,” “entertainment” and “enjoyment.” A majority of the definitions boil down to two main concepts: skill and physical effort. There’s no doubt about the skill of professional athletes competing in mainstream sports such as football, basketball and soccer. With many training for their respective sports for the majority of their lives, they understand both the game and what it takes to climb from amateurism to the peak of their crafts. Among a variety of skills, esports competitors require a high level of mental focus to excel in their respective leagues. Professional gaming teams may train for up to 50 hours per week in order to sharpen their skills, quicken their reaction times and dominate opposing players. The main argument for excluding esports from the larger sports umbrella is that “real sports” require sweat-inducing exertion. Professional athletes are praised for their explicitly visible physical capabilities, which often go hand-in-hand with their overall skill. Esports gamers don’t display the same level of physical endurance as traditional athletes, leading to the claim that esports isn’t on par with competitions held on the field, rink or court. Nonetheless, because esports athletes do not experience the physical toll that athletes in traditional sports do, they can spend more hours actively training than traditional sport athletes who experience far greater fatigue. Esports athletes are known to spend well over 10-12 hours practicing every day. Yet as the esports industry has grown, big name teams, such as Complexity Gaming, Team Liquid and Astralis have begun to require physical preparation from their players to get the best results. Physical preparation varies from regular visits to the gym to nutritionist-designed diets. “A fraction of a second in this business can mean the difference between millions of dollars,” Complexity CEO Jason Lake said. “If we can eat right, or we can sleep right, or we can train right to get that fraction of a second, then we’re gonna do it. We’re gonna hoist trophies.” So, how close are esports athletes to earning recognition among names like LeBron James or Serena Williams? ESPN reported that esports were introduced as a “demonstration sport” at the 2018 Asian Games in Jakarta, Indonesia. Participants didn’t earn medals counting toward their country’s total, but it was an exhibition of how games like “Dota” and ‘FIFA” may be implemented in other worldwide competitions.

The International Olympic Committee recognized the growing prevalence of the online industry, holding a 2018 esports forum to discuss the compatibility of esports with the games. However, the forum didn’t yield an answer on whether virtual events would be included in the Olympics, nor did it confirm a mechanism for its inclusion any time soon. In global engagement, esports doesn’t lag far behind its traditional counterparts The League of Legends World Finals in 2018, held in South Korea, had approximately 99.6 million online spectators. The 2019 Super Bowl drew approximately 98.2 million. Esports has gained acceptance among NCAA athletic programs as well. According to ESPN, at least 125 institutions offered varsity-level esports programs as of 2019, including Georgia State and Georgia Southern. UGA offers intramural leagues for “FIFA,” “NBA 2K20” and “League of Legends.” When asked if esports is considered a sport, Tyler Blevins stressed the importance of time that both gamers and competitive athletes put into their work. “[Between] these gamers and these competitive athletes, I can tell you the hours are gonna be the same,” Tyler "Ninja" Blevins said. “The same time [athletes] put into the gym and practicing their professions is the same time that gamers put in being the best at what they’re [good] at.” While the debate continues on the classification of esports, it’s clear the industry has found its niche as perhaps the most popular quasi-sport on the globe....