Is Gaming A Sport?
By: Jaidon Bowers
First off let’s define what a sport really is. A sport is an activity that involves, practice, physical movements and competes against another team or person for entertainment. Last year, in 2018, gaming and other game supporting companies blew up. These gaming companies include youtube and Twitch. Twitch is a live streaming app that lets gamers live stream their gameplay and maybe make money off of it. This platform has made so many popular gamers who they are today. There have also been multiple games that have led gamers to success. Such as: Fortnite and Call of Duty. So this leads us to the real question, is gaming a sport?
In September of 2018 a professional gamer was put on the front of the ESPN magazine sports cover, his name is Ninja, or Tyler Blevins. There are a whole lot of different opinions about this situation,but it strikes the same argument, is gaming a sport? Most people’s arguments consists of one of these two things. Either you don’t think gaming is a sport or you do think gaming is a sport. Some people might say they don’t think that gaming is a sport because it doesn’t take near as much hard work as it does to become a great football or baseball player. Gamers have to put in work but not the same type of work as baseball players. Baseball players workout and practice fundamentals which is way harder than just playing the video game nonstop for 12 hours just to get better at the game. So obviously grinding to be better at a videogame would be a lot more fun than grinding for a spot on the Major League Baseball team. Gaming also has no physical exertion required to game. One of the main parts of the definition of sports says that a sport involves physical exertion. Gaming isn’t physical at all and I’m sure that most people will agree with that. To become a professional gamer is more luck than skill because there are a lot of players that are as good as the professional gamers it’s just the people that watch them or subscribe to them that make them famous throughout the gaming community. However in major league sports there is a certain job that searches and keeps an eye on the best of the best players.
However, a lot of people also believe gaming is a sport. Gaming does require practice and that does fall into the definition of sport. Practice is required to play at the professional level of gaming. There is no physical movements but, gaming is played and live streamed for entertainment. Gaming does require different kinds of strategies and skills. Professional gamers practice for months just to train for the gaming convention or tournament that comes around every once in a while. Professional gamers play video games on average for 10–12 hours per day to perfect one simple move, shot or technique in the game. Gaming companies set up these gaming competitions and invite the best players from around the world. There is usually a tremendous amount of money that goes to the winner which encourages the players to grind daily.
Gaming is starting to be so popular that colleges are offering scholarships to great video game players. Most americans would never put gaming in the same group as other sports like baseball, football, or basketball but, gaming is so competitive colleges are offering scholarships. Grayson O’Connell ,a twenty year old at Harrisburg University, says his homework can consist of playing video games. Traditional sports such as football cost a certain amount of money depending on where you play and what team you play on. Where as video games don’t cost a monthly fee. Just the essentials like the console and other accessories like a headset or monitor. So even people that aren’t able to play sports can still get a scholarship for esports. Maybe even when colleges get more popular with the video game teams there can be a playoff series.
In my opinion gaming is not a sport. I believe this because it does not have as much physical movements or exertion as a traditional sport. When I think of sports I think of being healthy, moving around, hand eye coordination and things like that. Gaming is more of a hobby than a sport because everybody can play a video game but not everybody can play a sport. Sports are also more healthy because anybody that plays a sport makes them more active, where video games encourage kids to sit and do nothing for the most of the day. Video games can also cause addiction which is not a good thing for any situation. Addiction can cause depression or cause someone act different than they normally do. Whereas traditional sports can increase a person’s health. Although, sports with not enough water, protein or different vitamins could be dangerous because human bodies have to have energy to be able to be active.
Usually kids always dream about playing in the NFL,MLB or MLS. The next generation of kids are dreaming about being an MLG or a major league gamer. This could take a toll on the traditional sports incoming salary in the future. Major league gaming could become like traditional sports now days where a city is represented by certain team. People could buy tickets to a competition, make signs and wear jerseys to the competitions. Instead of going to a Chiefs game every once in a while.
In conclusion, the gaming community is growing and on the rise. Gaming is starting to come into everyday life.Especially with all the technology companies are starting to adapt. They will want more people with technology experience and that know how to control and work a computer. Computers are what most professional gamers play their games on. There are a couple of gamers that still do play on console but, that is on a rare occasion.
