When most people think of sports, the first things that might come to mind are baseball, football, soccer, or even basketball. Some people might think of running, gymnastics and swimming, however, not many people would consider video games. For most people, video games are just for fun and entertainment, yet, people dedicate their lives to professional gaming. Professional gaming consists of tournaments between players or teams for a variety of different games. These competitively played tournaments are called eSports and are typically played by professional players in front of an audience. According to the oxford dictionary, a sport is “an activity involving physical exertion and skill in which an individual or team competes against another or others for entertainment.” By looking at the physical, mental, and professional aspects of eSports, this paper aims to show how eSports not only fits the definition of a sport, but also has grown large enough to be considered on par with professional leagues like the NFL, NBA, and others. 

The main reason people overlook eSports as a sport is because they believe it lacks a physical element to it. According to most definitions, a sport must involve some type of physical movement and skill. So what then makes eSports a sport when most video games are played sitting down? There are two main aspects of eSports which contain physical elements to them. The first is reaction time. Professional gamers must have quick decisive reaction times in order to compete. According to OJ Borg, these players can make more than 300 ‘actions’ per minute, within a team framework (Borg). This means players are performing lighting fast keystrokes and controller actions with both speed and accuracy. Not only do the players have to be fast, they also must be coordinated and skilled with their actions. In Witkowski’s analysis of Counter-Strike players, she mentions how playing the famous FPS (First Person Shooter) is similar to hunting. The point in which a hunter spots a deer and the reactions he gives off is related to how gamers react (Witkowski 363). The quick adrenalin rush caused by the deer is followed by a quick, decisive, and controlled action to shoot the deer. Similar, the players of Counter-Strike must react quickly and accurately aim when spotting an enemy player. “These e-sports players’ capture the labors of bodies engaged in high-performance sports, where a composition of movement, balance (steadiness and composure), and practice is brought together” (Witkowski 363). As Witkowski mentions, these professional players combine practice and composure in order to perform at their level.

The second physical aspect of eSports that one must look at is mastery of motor skills, specifically the skill of virtual displacement. Displacement is a vital concept of many sports. In Olympic sports like the javelin toss and the discus throw, there is an object that is being thrown and the distance the object travels, or the displacement, is measured to determine the winners. Sports like archery and golf add accuracy to the equation. An archer must shoot an arrow a certain distance and hit a precise spot on a target. Similarly, a golfer must hit a golf ball far and accurate enough to reach the hole. Both of these sports require skill and practice in order to be able to displace the object with precision. Finally, sports like long jumping are displacement of the body. Being able to motion your body to jump as far as possible takes both athleticism and skillful movements and strides. All these sports have different types of displacement which are crucial to how the sport is played. Similarly, eSports uses aiming, displacing, and interactions with objects, characters, and opponents to dictate how the game is played (Hilvoorde 19). The displacement used in eSports is called virtual displacement and it is vital to how games are played.  As an example, in order shoot an enemy in an FPS, one must be able to first notice the location of the enemy. Then he must aim at the enemy and shoot. The player displaces his video game character in the virtual game in order to do this. Pro’s must practice movement in games because the more precise they are with how characters and objects move in the game, the better their chances are at winning. “Even though the whole body is not displaced in eSports, the indirect character of the displacing-directed intentionality (something else is being displaced) is not fundamentally different from sports like snooker or billiards” (Hilvoorde 19). Hilvoorde argues that the motor actions used to displace characters and objects in video games are similar to how you displace the balls in billiards. It takes precise, coordinated actions in order to accurately move the objects in one's desired way.

Virtual displacement and character movement is a skill that takes time and practice to master. In Witkowski's article on Counter-Strike and other games like it, she talks about how inexperienced players tend to get motion sickness trying to navigate the 3D maps. She states that these players tend to mimic the movements of their “on-screen character”; for example, leaning in the direction you want your character to move. She then talks about how professional players don’t experience the same issues. “With straight backs, shoulders inclined forward, their energy is focused into the modulations of their poised hands and fingers— which swing between delicate and purposeful—and are visibly recognized as practiced hands” (Witkowski 360). Through practice and hours of playing, these players have adapted to the character movements and the maps of the games. As Taylor says in her book, “While we may play a game for a few hours a week or a weekend afternoon, pro players will have clocked hours upon hours practicing and competing” (Taylor 98). The efficacy in which players can displace on-screen characters and objects in-game plays a huge role one's success in the eSports world. 

Physicality is necessary when classifying sports, however, strategy and tactics also play a crucial part in sports as well. In Hilvoorde’s article, he quotes Jonasson and Thiborg stating that’s eSports is conceptualized as an “intellectual contest as opposed to physical contests (Hilvoorde 17). Even though eSports do have some physical elements to them, for the most part, it comes down to practice and strategy. Top athletes and teams practice and learn strategic plays and tactics in order to outsmart the opposing team. Similarly, “eSports teams spend a huge amount of time working on strategy, which will usually be the difference between victory and defeat” (Borg). Just like how NFL teams will watch games of opposing teams to get the upper hand, eSports teams must plan ahead or adapt to their opponents in order to win. As Hilvoorde says, “It is a combination of analyzing your opponent and analyzing yourself and beat your opponent with strategic ingenuity” (15). E-sport games like League of Legends are incredibly sophisticated and complex and require a high level of strategy in order to win. Also, when at the competitive level, most players are equally experienced and skill becomes less important. The team or player who can outsmart their opponent will usually claim victory similar to other common team sports. 

After looking at the physical and mental aspects of eSports, we see that eSports can truly fit the basic definition of a sport. But being a sport does not automatically translate well to the professional scene. Another aspect one must look at is what makes eSports professional? In order for a sport to become professional, it must have organized leagues in which tournaments, games, and media is covered. In soccer, there are many different leagues like the Premier League and La Liga BBVA. In the world of eSports, there are also many different leagues corresponding to what games are played: UMG Gaming, Halo Championship Series, and Major League Gaming to name a few. A major importance of these leagues is revenue and funding.  According to Young, the eSports industry global revenue has reached 463 million dollars and is excepted to reach one billion by 2019 (Young). This rapid growth shows that eSports is on track to reach the pros. The MLS annual revenue is roughly six million which eSports is predicated to pass (Major Professional). 

 Revenue is essential to a leagues success, however, ever major league must have sponsors for funding. For example, the NFL is currently partners with 32 company’s included Hyundai, Papa John’s, and Microsoft. Some of eSports most important sponsors which help fund games and tournaments include Red bull, Google, Microsoft, but primarily Twitch. Twitch is a video-streaming site which according to Casselman, is “arguably the most important contributor to eSports' recent growth” (Casselman). Twitch streams eSports games and tournaments as well as offers up and coming gamers the chance to broadcast their own gameplay. With roughly 55 million active users and an average one million viewers per mouth, Twitch has played a vital role in eSports success. 

So how successful really is the eSports industry. In order for professional sports to be successful, first they must have a large enough fan base. According to Young, the global audience of eSports grew to 292 million by 2016 and is projected to pass 427 million by 2019. In the US alone there are roughly 41 million viewers and its growing by 21 percent each year (Young). Esports has become so popular that it’s tournaments have as much viewers as the Masters. In 2013 the League of Legends Championship sold out the Staples Center and had a total 27 million viewers (Heitner). The Masters only hit 25 million viewers in 2013 while the NBA Finals barley hit 15 million. E-sports also pulls in huge prize pools for their championships. In 2014 the DOTA 2 International Champions received a total 5.03 million dollars in prize money split between four people. The Super Bowl Champions that year received a team total of 5.1 million. Even though eSports is not quite as large as the NFL, it’s still a young and growing industry which is on track to becoming as large as or even surpassing the Super Bowl.

Not only does eSports have a massive fan base, it also has thousands of professional players competing in tournaments and playing for teams.  Some of the most elite professional eSports players can earn upwards of 1 million pounds a year like Carlos Rodriguez, founder of G2 Sports (Borg).  How players like Carlos make so much money is different than athletes of other sports, however, there are some similarities. Most professional athletes are given contracts which guarantee players a certain salary for a number of years. They also have individual sponsorships which add to their income, but their contracts are where most of the money is made. Professional gamer salaries work the opposite. Players who are on teams do not get contracts, but rather are treated more like employees (Major Professional). They get decent salaries and some are even offered health insurance; however, it’s not where a majority of their income comes from. Most of what makes up a professional eSports player’s salary comes from sponsorship. 

The same companies that sponsor eSports tournaments and games also sponsor elite players and teams. On top of the money, sponsors also provide players with free gear and equipment in exchange for the brand awareness that eSports players bring to the table. Pro players will typical wear brand logo gear when at tournaments and they will also advertise sponsors on their Twitch live streams. According to Aaron, many of the most popular Twitch streamers are professional gamers who can receive millions of view on their streams (Aaron). High viewer count not only attracts sponsors but also provided bonus income for Pro gamers. The more followers a streamer has, the higher their Twitch income is.  

A big question surrounding eSports is how do young gamers become “professional” players. For sports like basketball and soccer, kids will play on club’s teams when they are young and move on to high school teams, college teams, and finally the pro leagues if they are good enough. There are hundreds of teams, coaches, and organizations which help athletics make it to the professional level. Esports is different because it doesn’t have those resources. 

Unlike traditional sports where, if a kid gets a glimpse of professional athleticism early on (an unavoidable occupational image in our culture) they not only start imagining that path but encounter coaches and supportive adults along the way to foster it, gamer activity is located somewhat differently. For someone who aspires to professionalism their activity still resides somewhere betwixt and between subculture and occupation. The values that shape how one behaves are thus similarly located, and get worked over as people move from being a casual player, to an amateur, to a professional, complete with contracts, cash, and obligations (Taylor).

For a gamer to make it to the professional level, they need the ambition to work hard, both with gaming and with a job until they actually sign with a team. Since there are not a lot of clubs or teams to support players early on it is up to the gamer to get his name out there through competitions and streaming, however, this is beginning to change. According to Kennedy, colleges are starting to give out athletic scholarships for League of Legends players. Robert Morris University in Chicago has apparently announced a “gaming” scholarship and is joining the Collegiate Star league; which host eSports tournaments for over 100 colleges including Harvard and Arizona State. This scholarship is said to cover up to half their tuition and half of their room and board (Kennedy). The fact that colleges are now beginning to offer athletic scholarships for eSports is a huge step for the industry as well as for players who have the skill and passion to make it at the professional level.  

The world of eSports is massive and is still growing rapidly. With millions of fans and heavy revenue, eSports has the potential to be in the same league as professional sports like the NFL, NHL, and many others. In order for something to be considered a professional sport, first, it must be a sport to being with.  Professional eSports have two physical aspects which help it fit the definition of a sport. These two aspects are reaction speed and virtual displacement. The top professional eSports players have lighting fast reaction times and can reach pass 300 ‘actions’ per minute in-game. Players must also have practiced hands in order to guide controllers not only with speed but accuracy as well. How well players can displace in-game objects also plays a huge role in eSports and requires both skill and practice. Next, sports need organization in order to become professionalized. Football has the NFL as its main professional league. Similarly, eSports has leagues like the MLG and UMG Gaming. These leagues have sponsorships like Red bull, Twitch, and Microsoft that help fund tournaments and players. These players that play at the professional level are highly skilled and experienced. They have decently large salaries as well as income from sponsorship and streaming. All in all, eSports contains the physical and mental aspects of sports, the organizations and centralization of leagues, and the big elite players to be considered a professional sport.
