eSports are becoming a huge deal with players having the potential to earn hundreds of thousands of dollars, earning themselves athlete-standard visas, and also earning scholarships to universities. However there are some who still don’t think of eSports as a “real” sport, or think that there shouldn’t be too much investment made in them.
Such was the case over in Switzerland where Swiss football fans attempted to disrupt an ongoing football game between the Young Boys and Basel. These fans threw tennis balls and gaming controllers onto the field, and also unfurled a “pause” flag that protested how there are an increasing number of football teams who are investing into eSports.
https://twitter.com/LuiGrenat/status/1043913098443321346
For example Basel has an eSports team that plays for FIFA, while the NBA has their own successful season of eSports, and football club Tottenham are also expected to host an eSports tournament at its newly built stadium which they believe has the potential to rake in a ton of money from interest in such events.
That being said, it seems that the protest did not last very long as it only disrupted the game for a few minutes, but it is pretty clear that despite the advancements we’re seeing in eSports being accepted (there are talks about how it could eventually be part of the Olympics), there are some who still don’t view it as a legitimate sporting activity.
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