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The question "Are eSports 'real sports'?" and its implications

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เผยแพร่เมื่อ: วันศุกร์, 30 มิถุนายน 2560 13:05
เขียนโดย Krissadee Phunghansaporn
ฮิต: 3983

photos via Jokob Wells (left), Rob Bye (right)

Are eSports 'real sports'? This question has been asked, discussed and debated multiple times throughout the years of the existence of eSports. Many people from eSports community supports the notion that eSports are indeed sports, however, many still are not convinced that eSports are 'real sports'. One of the biggest instance where this can be seen is the reaction of the medias towards eSports, most notably being the statement made in 2014 president of the well-known sports channel ESPN, John Skipper. With so many objection from the media, some people asks the question of how it may not even matter that eSports are recognized as sports. While the topic of eSports as 'real sports' is certainly widely covered by now, what I have noticed to be lacking in attention is the implications of eSports being recognized as 'real sports'. What this article aims to achieve is to analyze eSports compatibility with the term 'sports', as well as discussing the potential implications of eSports as sports. 

The subjectivity of 'real sports'

The main problem I see with the debate of eSports as 'real sports' between people is their definition of 'sports' and to a certain extent 'real sports'. Due to the subjective nature of the term 'sports' in people's minds it is only natural to conclude that the answer to the question is currently subjective. This not only applies between individuals but also among different countries. For example, in 2013 the United States of America acknowledges professional gamers as professional athletes, this not only grant professional gamers the access to P-1 visas but also to an extent acknowledges that eSports are deemed to be a sport. This acknowledgement is not found world wide and thus shows that the answer to the question is still of a subjective nature. With that being said, I will try to approach the question in such a way that I feel is the most objective way possible, that is, by using the definition found in the dictionary.

However, before doing so, it is worth pointing out that to some, there is a difference in the term 'sports' and 'real sports'. This differs from person to person, but usually some use the term 'sports' to refer to things that are technically a sport and uses the term 'real sports' to refer to traditional sports such as football. A good example of this would be chess, where the majority of countries in the world recognize chess as a sport. In such case, one may say that chess is a sport but not a 'real sport', at least to them it is not. A person's perception of the definition of a word is a complicated topic, and would take a lot of time to cover, hence I will not go into too much details in this article.

 

Analyzing the definition

The definition of 'sport' according to the Oxford dictionary reads, "An activity involving physical exertion and skill in which an individual or team competes against another or others for entertainment." From the definition we can see that eSport titles fit this definition for the most part. There should be little to no argument that the act of playing eSport games are considered as an activity in which people compete against each other either as individuals or teams for entertainment purposes. The problems lie within the term 'physical exertion' and 'skill'.

The topic of skill is the easier one to address out of the two. Most people who are not familiar with gaming in general often see that games do not require skills to play, to which many people in the gaming community would heavily disagree. While it is not really required to be very skilled in order to play and enjoy the games, it is a totally different story when you want to play competitively. This is much like how traditional sports work, for example, you do not need to be able to perform bicycle kicks to play and enjoy soccer. That said in a competitive game, it could very well be what decides the outcome of the game. The same goes for eSport games, skills are what separate skilled players from others, hence why we see the term 'top players' used by the community and why we occasionally see some teams consistently winning tournaments.

The term 'physical exertion' is the more subjective one out of the two, being that we also need to consider the amount of physical movement is needed to be considered physical exertion. While pressing keys and using the mouse for professional gamers require high reflexes and muscle memory, the physical movement they produce paled in comparison to traditional sports. I would personally argue that it does not matter how much physical movement is involved for the act to be considered physical exertion. As long as 'some' amount of physical movement is involved, should be considered as physical exertion. This is because I believe that it would be otherwise very difficult to specifically define a threshold for the amount of movement needed in a physical exertion. Following this interpretation, eSports are indeed a sport under the dictionary.

 

Looking at the possible implications

Perhaps the main reason why this question came to be has to do with acceptance from the medias more than anything, but I truly believe that there are more that are yet to be discussed that could benefit the community. Assuming that eSports are recognized as sports, what would happen? What I believe to potentially be impacted is the issue of visas. The issue of visa has long been in eSports, where players or even teams were denied visas resulting in them being unable to attend some tournaments. Back in the year 2013 a P-1 visa has been granted to a professional eSports player (Danny "Shiphtur" Le, a League of Legends player) for the first time. For those who do not know, a P-1 visa is a non-immigrant visa granted to "internationally recognized athletes". The fact that a professional player was granted this visa sends the message that said player was considered to be an athlete, which further implies that, at the very least, League of Legends was considered to be a sport. While this is a huge step in addressing the visa issues in eSports, there are still much more to be dealt with. Despite P-1 visas being granted to eSports professionals, it is still very much inconsistent. I will not go into details on the the issue of showing non-immigration intent, but do note that the first consideration for the P-1 visa, or any visa relating to sports and athletes in other countries for that matter, is whether or not the applicant in question can be considered an athlete. The considerations are made by people who act according to their own discretion, to which they may or may not see them as athletes among other considerations. Therefore, it is of my personal belief that if eSports were to be recognized as sports, more countries will be more open to the idea of considering eSports professionals for special visas much like how P-1 visas was granted in the States. That being said, there may be other factors that have not been taken into account leading to this conclusion of mine. Only time will tell how eSports will develop, as sports or not.

 

Sources/Recommended articles I find relevant to this topic:

 

 

 

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