The
majority of parents, at some time or another, have told their kids to stop
playing video games and go do something productive. Well, what if I told you video
games could become the child’s career. In the not so far future the world of “ESports”
could become a whole new form of entertainment. The emergence of massive online
gaming has made it possible for people to become Esport athletes and compete at
a pro level. MOBAs (Massive Online Battle Area) such as League of Legends and
DOTA 2 have risen to new heights. With over 70 million active players, League
of Legends is the largest online game in history. Riot Games hosts an annual international
competition with the prize pool in 2015 being $2.3 million dollars. Not only
are tournaments huge but viewership is also at record highs. The 2015 League of
Legends World Championship final totaled at 36 million unique views across the
globe. In comparison the 2015 Super Bowl had a total of 114 million viewers. It
is shocking to see that a single video game is approaching the viewership of traditional
sports.
Even
universities are beginning to recruit young talent and offer scholarships to
Esport athletes. Recently UC-Irvine announced that in the coming fall they
would be offering scholarships to these athletes. UC-Irvine is one of the first
offer scholarships to athletes that will compete in the ULoL (U-League of
Legends) collegiate series. Many other schools have school teams that also
compete in ULoL. Thirteen of the Fourteen Big 10 schools have collegiate League
of Legends teams. In fact, earlier this week Big Teen Network and Riot games
agreed to televise the Ohio State vs Michigan State League of legends match.
This is the first time an event has been broadcasted on a collegiate network.
Many
other games such as Counter Strike: Global offensive have also had huge success
in the Esports industry. Many of these pro players are payed salaries similar
to those of traditional athletes, some making over 2 million dollars a year. In
total the Esport industry is predicted to bring in 17 Billion dollars in 2016.
These athletes also can get P-1A Visas so that they can travel to other regions
when they are drafted by professional teams. These Visas are given to “Internationally
Recognized Athletes” and these Esport athletes fall under this category.
This new
generation of Esport athletes could really change the way we look at video games
and the way we view traditional sport athletes as well. Parents might rethink their
statements about video games and might possibly encourage talented kids to
pursue careers in Esports.
Nice editorial ! I thought you picked an interesting topic to write about. I think every generation has things like this where new trends and activities seem crazy to lots of people. The one thing I think would really add something to your essay would be adding some sort of kind of counter point or other view of professional gaming. I think it would be interesting to see peoples reasons for not liking it. In general it seems that you stand for professional gaming, but i think you could take a bit of a stronger stance. Overall great job!
ReplyDeleteI like your editorial you provide a lot of points and information that really push for "esports." That being said I wish you added more specifics. I want to know who/how the players are making money and how it became so big. Of course the whole idea of "Esports" requires more then just a small editorial to truly flesh out but I think that this is a bit to broad. Still think it was pretty good though.
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