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They have theirs as well. LoL (Riot Games) just happens to have a) a better marketing department and b) a larger fan base (from a viewership perspective)
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Originally Posted by mike1003
But, a varsity sport? What's next, poker?
The determination of funding these sorts of things comes from their popularity. One might argue that football, by itself, does nothing for the greater good (as opposed to say, a scholarship for someone to become a doctor), but football is a cash cow, and thus, we're funding for kids to participate in an activity that will also bring in tons of revenue.
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Originally Posted by FinsterRufus
What career is he going to take up that gets him outside more, do you think?
Don't poo poo it out of hand. It's a legitimate multi billion dollar business.
It is.
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Originally Posted by Old Town FFX
It's already shown on TV for hours on end and a huge fan base apparently. How is that different from more mainstream sports?
It's not. In fact, (and I could be remembering this wrong), but I'm pretty sure the LoL world championships had a larger viewership than both the NHL and NBA finals. Esports is like the 5th/6th largest "sport" (depending on definition) in the world right now, and is growing at the same rate the NFL did when it was first introduced.
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Originally Posted by NewYorker11356
This thread just reinforces my belief that video games still have a stigma attached to them. Sad....
I know
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Originally Posted by spankys bbq
I'm not going to multi-quote here, so just roll with it.
NewYorker, you're wrong. Partly. There may be a stigma attached to video games, but it is geared more to the people who do marathon gaming and bring absolutely nothing to the table, beyond a hig level in WoW or a high Prestige level in CoD. In other words, people who waste their life playing games are a waste. Seriously, no job, no contribution to society, other than running up a power bill. Yeah, there's a stigma there.
I assure you that the stigma runs much further than that. Not that your point isn't worth merit....the items you mention are definitely receiving the brunt of it.
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Originally Posted by spankys bbq
27 million views for a video game tournament. Awesome. 27 million out of how many billion people on the planet? It seems the percentages are quite low. I hardly see it knocking off the Final Four or the BCS in ratings. Well, unless CBS goes global and you can get people off of their computers.
Using that logic, nothing in the world is popular except sex. Even the super bowl, the most watched event in the world (I think), is "only in the hundreds of millions"....out of billions of people. The viewership numbers are ridiculous, considering it's not even on TV.
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Originally Posted by spankys bbq
There is a HUGE difference between playing video games and designing/coding/developing games. Being the best player does not make you worth a poop when it comes to being a dev.
Agree, but not entirely relevant.
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Originally Posted by spankys bbq
I feel like I have a fair amount of credibility here since I played Golden Tee for a living for over 2 years. I know people who have played it for a living for almost a decade. I remember my mother telling me video games won't get me anywhere. I still get a silly sense of pride thinking about sending her a photocopy of a $3,000 check for one day of play. Hell, I got to travel, I got to meet people, I got drunk as all get out, and I got to take deductions for my business. It was great! Until I realized no bank would ever loan me anything for a house or a car. After that realization, I got my butt back into the real world.
This is why I quit poker for a living.
Quote:
Originally Posted by spankys bbq
I made a video game my life. I lived it. I did it day in and day out. I realized it was fun but not anything I could grow on.
I was one of the best in the world. If i didn't shoot a -25 or better, I was pissed. My best score was -32 in online play for money. I had bar owners asking me to play at their place, drinks for free in some cases. I was one of the best.
Then, the next group of up-and-comers came around, and I wasn't the best. I couldn't hang anymore. The new guys were better on every level. The new kids beat out the old guy(s). I learned they had a different understanding of the game. I saw it the old way and they saw it the new way. I wasn't able to adapt fast enough.
The same will happen to all of these people who think they're the best. There will be someone better to come along and dethrone them. You can't wear the crown forever. and you sure as heck shouldn't try to make a career out of it. There are the rare exceptions, but they are, well, rare. Don't make the mistake of thinking you're the rare one. You probably aren't.
Sorry for the rant.
It depends on how they can parley their career. As you mention, competitive esports participants have a limited shelf life, much like being a running back in football. A few years, tops. But coupled with that are sponsorships, marketing opportunities, and segues into leadership/broadcasting. Most MMA fighters don't make very much money, but many of them, especially the women, are leveraging that popularity into other revenue-generating endeavors (i.e. ronda rousey, gina carano, paige van zant, felice herrig, etc.)
At what point did I say that? I'm saying it is not a reliable career path to follow. Of all of the people who play these games, I'd guess maybe 0.001% could make a living at it or play at the highest level.
If playing video games aids in the individual learning and growing in the tech industry then why not? Being a programmer for any software has to be very difficult and a lucrative career.
Not surprised...I've long said: even as popular as video games are today, there is a massive untapped market waiting to be unveiled ...this lies in the spectator aspect of it...if anyone can do this correctly, there will eventually come a day where crowds buy tickets to sit in movie theatres to watch people play video games on the big screen instead of watching movies. You already see this element of gaming albeit on a smaller scale on sites like Twitch and even Youtube...and spectatorship is actually highly organic to video game culture itself. As much fun as it was to play video games in the arcade, almost every person in the arcade had as much fun watching and commenting on matches as they were waiting their turn.
Ok, let's get into minutiae....all activities, yet baseball, basketball, football and hockey can be classified further as a sport, where the others can't....better?
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