Is League of Legends (and esports in general) becomming the new 21st century sporting event?

[Janson]

So I watched the semi final match for the league of legends and I must say, I felt like I was watching ESPN lol. The finals match came down to China vs. Korea and I believe the grand prize was $1 million for the winning team (correct me if I'm wrong). But my question here is do you think that things like football and hockey are loosing ground to this more 21st century form of entertainment?

The championship gamed filled the whole Staples Center in Los Angeles with 13 000 people. From what I've seen, esports are really making gains in this century, and frankly I don't really consider them any less of an athlete than say a NASCAR racer. I can honestly see the day where esports are covered on several TV channels, and the channels that purchase the rights to do this won't be obscure, but large and perhaps multinational (I'm talking maybe a decade or so down the road). Here is some coverage/commentary on the LoL Championship

link

And for those who want to see the grand final game, here it is

link

Updates

+1 y

P.S. not sure if that last link is the actual game that took place recently in L.A. but you still get the idea of the "ESPN-like" way of commentary when you watch it

[TedStar]

May be in very developed places but for most of the world the easier and more accessible sports like Football (soccer) and Athletics will always reign supreme. Sport is supposed to encourage people to go outside and socialise while having some fun. With this becoming popular one could literally sit in his room the whole day being an "athlete"

If this is the direction of sport I'm a little worried. Imagine this guy being regarded as a world class sportsman link winning the Laureus World Sportsman of the Year

[kambo_trick3y]

To be honest, because the world is going more digital and the next generation of kids are so engrossed in technology, it's only a matter of time before E-Sports becomes the norm. It's already growing incredibly now.

Fun Fact:

My cousin plays on the European League team Fnatic, I got into League of Legends because of them.

[Janson]

Yeah I feel that way too. The older generation would think it incredibly weird/irregular but its so commonplace to me now that it wouldn't surprise me to see people watching the tournaments live from their living room chair. That's pretty cool though. I don't play but my friends have been begging me to get into it for like a year now. I prefer RTS games where you're building things and micro managing squads/units but I watched this LoL game to see how far esports has really come.

[kambo_trick3y]

Quick question. On a scale of 1-10 how competitive are you?

[Janson]

Well where video games are concerned, maybe a 6. One of my favorite RTS games of all time (The Battle for Middle Earth 2) use to have very active clan tournaments and I played in a few of them. So when I find the right game I can certainly get into it. I haven't done that kind of gaming in quite some time though ^_^

[kambo_trick3y]

Then you can probably enter League pretty well then. If you're about a 7 or above, you'll probably go mad, especially when you play ranked. It's a VERY strict gaming system where one screw up means the entire cost of your team, and it's BECAUSE of that nature, you get a first hand glimpse at how stupid people can be.

There's nothing worse then giving literally %150 percent into a game, and having it ALL ruined by someone on your team you have absolutely NO control over.

[Janson]

Ya that's why I prefer different RTS games where its less team based and more like starcraft haha.

[maiez]

How are your skills on League?

[kambo_trick3y]

Fairly good, Platinum player

[wiebedonche]

i think lcs is going to become even more popular :D i hope so :D hahah

[doctorwhofan23]

It seems like it and it is crazy to see people cheer when a team fight breaks out it is like they are watching a real sport. But it seems like esports are becoming huge and I see it growing for the foreseeable future.

[maiez]

I think so, Korea has always included Starcraft as a sport for the past 14 years. So League is making its way, and it definitely is big in Korea.

[Deviouscourage]

Lol, you're funny. Poker is as far as a game that I will call a sport.

[Anonymous]

E-Sports do seem to be growing in popularity rather quickly.