Slashdot Mirror
eSports Now a Part of College Athletics
jyosim writes: The University of Cincinnati hosted what was possibly the largest-ever collegiate video-game tournament last weekend. At the university, the League of Legends club has become an official club sport, just like rugby or rowing. "What's happening with college e-sports right now is that we're seeing a formalization and institutionalization of what's always been present," said T.L. Taylor, a professor of comparative media studies at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
More like the colleges are realizing that there is another bumper crop of highly marketable kids that they can exploit for multi-million dollar TV and streaming deals where they don't have to pay the players anything at all. I am waiting for the NCAA's drool to start accumulating over another pool of exploitable labor.
Otherwise this is pretty good for eSports. This can serve as a recruitment ground for skilled players as skills rarely port well from the general ladder to competitive team play. Also, as League of Legends is legally recognized as a sport in the US this might allow people to apply for visas and scholarships.
And for the people who will inevitably flood this comments section with nonsense about how eSports isn't a real sport please just stop. No one cares if they are real sports by a definition that is arbitrary to begin with, and they certainly don't want to hear your opinion about it in your relentless pursuit of overdefinition.
"There are lies, there are damn lies, and there are statistics"
"Let's get ready ti RUMMMMMMBLEEEEEEEEEEE!
"In this corner, weighing in at 327, the Buttonmasher from Boston, the World Champeen Jason 'Couch Potato' Johnson!
"And in this corner, weighing in at 294, the Dollar Menu Don, the Permanent Indenter, Phil 'And a Diet Coke, lite on the ice, please' Pullman.
(-1: Post disagrees with my already-settled worldview) is not a valid mod option.
Honestly, if bridge and chess are considered sports, why not video games?
It defies what most of us think of as 'sport', but apparently it's a more nuanced thing, and there are already precedents for this.
Essentially once you have a league and rules, you have a sport ... now, don't expect the nerd-force to be treated with the same respect as the football players .. the cheerleaders will still not care. ;-)
Lost at C:>. Found at C.
So do fps like quake or UT. You need fine motor skill and discipline to play those at any decent level. Doesn't mean they're considered sports. I think the sport vs game discussion is more about ego and self importance than anything else. Chess is considered a sport, too, and it does not require significant hand/eye coordination.
Dota 2 pays more (15kk USD on last international tournament).
Dota 2 is more balanced.
Dota 2 is truly F2P (all heroes available from start).
I don't think LoL is suitable for a competitive environment.
> the cheerleaders will still not care. ;-)
:-)
But the Korean cheerleaders will care. A lot
I am waiting for the NCAA's drool to start accumulating over another pool of exploitable labor.
You'll be waiting a long time. I was a college athlete in division one under the NCAA. I assure you that the NCAA wants nothing to do with so called esports. The folks in charge don't even consider it a sport no matter what you or I might call it. Plus if the NCAA gets involved then there are Title IX issues that come into play given that the player demographics skew heavily male. You seriously think a D1 college is going to cut an athletic sport for varsity video games?
No, even if esports become a thing in colleges the NCAA is probably not going to be the parent organization.
Look, let's be clear hear ... I'm not championing the cause of "e-Sports", or saying I necessarily give a damn ... because I don't.
What I am saying is there are already precedents in which bridge and chess, for example, have been defined as sports ... at the Olympic level no less.
It's too damned late for us to quibble over the definition of sport, as far more authoritative bodies than a bunch of nerds on Slashdot have already weighed in.
When I first heard this particular definition of sport I was saying "What the fsck is this crap?" But then eventually you have to realize that it's too late for us to get a vote.
So, I'll just reiterate: if the damned IOC recognizes bridge and chess as sports, why the hell not video games? And if you don't like it, you can take it up with the IOC, because I'm not the one who made those definitions.
And apparently it has nothing at all to do with athletic ability.
Lost at C:>. Found at C.
In Texas, they call that, "being gay".
You are welcome on my lawn.