Competitive video gaming against professionals might just be the sport of the internet era. But what exactly is is eSports or competitive video gaming? It might be hard to believe that eSports are a massive event against professional gamers and it is just as big as normal sport or event. I would believe that it is hard to imagine video gaming having big events or followings. But hopefully by the end of the my paper about eSports I have provided you with information on how eSports is an event or big deal. Hosting several main video game titles such as Call of Duty, Counter Strike, and League of Legends. I'm not trying to tell you that eSports is a sport but that eSports is a big deal that many people take part in.

Esports are actually a big event and not  just some kid playing Mario in his basement. The reason why eSports are so big is because people love to watch professional gamers rather than playing the game themselves. Esports doesn't just mean a group of friends playing Call of Duty A.K.A. CoD over a $10 bet.  “...205 million people watched or played eSports in 2014...”(ESPN). Esports has tournaments in massive stadiums with grand prizes of $.5 million and up. Infact the DOTA 2-The International 4 Champions (2014) had grand prize of $5M just $.1M under the super bowl winnings (ESPN). Gaming hase massive followings on social networks as well. “...gaming has more YouTube followers than news, movies and education combined.” (ESPN). Now you're probably wondering why there isn't any eSports on TV and that's because it isn't on TV any TV Channels. The majority of eSports games are broadcasted on websites such as twitch.tv along with MLG.tv and UMG.tv. Twitch is a major part in eSports hosting over 55 million users and also giving future gamers a place to stream their games. So in a way eSports is just as big as a normal sport.

Egmaers put many hours of training into their skill as well as  many hours of exercise like regular athletes. Believe it or not eGamers must stay fit to keep their mind sharp and not sluggish FaZe Clan a professional CoD team even owns a youtube channel called FaZe Fitness which shows different types of exercise strategies. The main reason eGamers stay fit and healthy are because they must keep a fast mind to make fast decisions in game.

“...professional Call of Duty team, Optic Gaming, attended a high performance boot camp hosted by Red Bull… During their time together, the OpTic Gaming roster were analysed by sports psychologists, complete several rigorous regimes…”(Gfinity). Egamers must go through many hours of training before they can even think about playing professional. If a soccer player were to jump straight in a game without any training or skill would they do good? No, and that's the exact reason eGamers must practice to grow their skills. A great example of skill is Matt “Nadeshot” Haag. Haag is 22 years old, drives a BMW M3, has over 1.5 million subscribers on youtube, attracts thousands to his live streams, and has a sponsorship with iconic energy drink company Red Bull (Gfinity). Nadeshot practices more than 14 hours a day in preparation for the next big event. So in a sense eGamers need as much skill and health as regular athletes.

Well I hope that I  have convinced you that eSports is big or will be. If you think you might like eSports I recommend finding a professional gaming team to follow such as Optic gaming, FaZe Clan, or Elevate. If you like eSports after watching a game or two than I have solved a problem. But if you still think that eSports is not a big deal than I recommend looking it up and finding out some more detail or going to an event yourself such as the x-games which host many eSports games.

Works Cited:
"Esports Is Massive… and Growing." ESPN. ESPN Internet Ventures, n.d.
"Is ESports a 'Real Sport'? :: News." Gfinity. Gfinity, n.d. Web.