ESPN’s President Doesn’t Think eSports Is A “Sport”

When we think of “sports”, our minds usually go to more traditional activities which have been defined as sports in the past, such as football, basketball, cricket, swimming, badminton, and etc. However in the recent years, the concept of eSports is starting to catch on where playing video games could be considered a sport as well.

In fact we have heard how League of Legends and StarCraft players have been granted visas to enter the US where they have been classified as pro athletes. Perhaps that’s the new direction we are headed at, but it seems that not everyone feels the same. Speaking to the folks at Re/code, ESPN’s President John Skipper did not seem to think that eSports was considered a sport.

Skipper was asked to comment on Amazon’s recent purchase of Twitch, the video game streaming service, he was quoted as saying, “It’s not a sport — it’s a competition. Chess is a competition. Checkers is a competition. Mostly, I’m interested in doing real sports.” Of course this is just one person’s opinion, albeit an important one since his opinion could affect ESPN’s decision to air future broadcasts of eSports events.

However regardless of Skipper’s opinion, the eSports scene is burgeoning and Valve’s recent The International DotA 2 tournament, which managed to raise $10 million in prize money, is proof of that, but what do you guys think? Do you agree that video game tournaments should be considered a competition instead of a sport?

[Image Credit – eSportsMax]

Tyler Lee
Categories: Gaming