Explain Why Video Games Should Be Considered Sports

Video games have been around for many years and so has competitive gaming. The first video game was created around 1970 and was Pong. Pong required one or two players to play. The players would play next to each other and the game required both players to move the courser to the ball and knock in to the other player’s side. Pong was the first competitive video game because you could play with another person. The video game industry now is a very big market and is suspected to be an 86 billion dollar industry in 2016 (A Classification Of Business Models In Video Game Industry). For the past couple of years video competitions have gotten really popular and now there is a franchise called eSports that hosts gaming competitions in big areas. “The past several year’s eSports have seen meteoric growth in dozens of markets, attracting tens of millions of viewers each year in the United States, alone” (Hollist). Esports is made up of many different games and each game has different teams that specialize in the game that they are competing in. E-Sports 89 million viewers in 2014 and is suspected to grow to 145 million in 2017. ("Red Bull Media Readies ESports Studio for Prime Time."). Competitive gaming should be recognized as a sport because each team has a sponsor. The sponsors pay for all associated costs of the player’s gaming including, but not limited to, plane tickets, hotel rooms, and food. In return the teams have to wear the

What exactly determines whether or not an activity is a sport? The term sport is defined by The Free Dictionary as: A physical activity that is governed by a set of rules or customs and often engaged in competitively, an activity involving physical exertion and skill that is governed by a set of

So that begs the question, what is a sport? Is it using a ball or scoring goals or running and kicking? Is it competing against others with the aim of winning a trophy, ribbon, or money? If a so-called sport does not include those things, does that make it not a sport? Here is my criteria for a sport: if it is in the Olympics, it is a sport.

One of the activities on the list that I thought was the furthest thing from a sport was Pigeon Racing. Even though I believed Pigeon racing to have incorporated many of the key components of a sport such as competition, a governing bodies, benefits, and strategy; it fails to meet the other requirements. One requirement that is not met is maintaining a certain level of physical and mental activity. In this particular sport the performer is completely dependent upon the pigeon to compete. By doing so this completely removes an athlete from the sport and eliminates any human chance in affecting the overall outcome. Instead of a sport I would categorize this as a recreational activity that is fun to watch and be involved in. I believe that an activity that relies solely on an animal performance cannot be considered to be a true sport.

Video games do not meet the definition of a sport and there is a lack of “physical exertion” while playing video games. Third place winner of Tekken Tag Tournament 2 Unlimited Global Championship, Alexandre Laverez shows that there are no skills necessary to play video games and become a pro at it. There are health issues caused from playing video games such as sleep deprivation and lack vitamin D. From the rise of technology, video games are becoming more complex and strategic, but video games should stay as games, not

There are many sports that are played worldwide, but many of these sports have differences. A sport is an activity involving skill in which an individual or team competes against another or others. Track and Field and Football are both sports that are highly distinct. These sports have a big diversity in gear, money being made, how many are viewing or playing, and other things to it.

Sports are very vital. They offer a lifestyle, an occupation, and even a dream. Sports require physical activity and skill in which a team or an individual compete against others for entertainment. As David G. McComb comments in "Sports in World History", "there is a high degree of training, investment, and coaching, along with spectators, rules, publicity, and institutional control that come along with these activities." While participating in sports, it is required to be able to undertake a difficult situation and perform the best out of it. Sports are definitely more than just a game.

To start off, If you look up the definition of a sport in the dictionary, it will tell you that a sport is a “physical activity that is governed

an activity involving physical exertion and skill in which an individual or team competes against

In order for a sport to be a sport it has to follow certain guidelines. So let’s see what these guidelines are. The first one is it must be a physical activity which involves propelling a mass through space or overcoming the resistance of mass. Secondly contesting or competing against/with an opponent is required.

Today, even with the growth of technology, the idea of video games being a sport is very ridiculous sounding to the majority of people. If you really begin to compare your typical sports and video games you will begin to see the similarities. When asking if video games can be considered a sport we must first ask what we classify as a sport. A sport can be defined as: an activity that requires a certain skill set in which people compete.

However, the lack of physical skill is made up by mental skill. Viramontes describes that by saying, “...video gaming requires so much mental training, focus, and the ability to read what your opponent’s next move is going to be” (Can Video Gaming Be Considered an Actual Sport?). A sport like chess is exactly interpreted as this; thinking about strategy and other major key points to win. Along with improving in the mental side of things, video games also increase hand-eye coordination. Robin Burks, an editor for Tech Times expresses that sensorimotor skills and hand-eye coordination improve while actively playing action games (Burks). Likewise, almost everything in life, including all the sports, require great hand-eye coordination to play. Furthermore, video games fall under this category. The term ‘sport’ can be differently interpreted among the general audience. Cerrudo stated that a professor, Dr. Ingo Froböse, explains, how just physical movements do not explain a general sport (Should “eSports” Be Considered As a Sport?). Different people think that a sport does not need physical effort for example, gold or chess. Therefore, video games are a sport.

Competitive gaming, also known as e-sports, is becoming a worldwide phenomenon. With huge events and tournaments that are watched by millions of passionate fans, many people are beginning to question whether playing video games can be considered a real sport. Even though e-sports may not be as physically demanding as traditional sports like football and basketball, the structure, strong fan base and the requirements to seriously contend in the competitive gaming scene legitimize it as a “real” sport.

A sport is defined as an athletic activity requiring skill or physical prowess and often of a competitive nature. Competitive. Competition is a rivalry between two or more persons or groups for an object desired in common, usually resulting in a victor and a loser. Something to argue would be if a competition could legitimately be considered a sport. The word ‘compete’ is in the definition of sport after all. So, should eSports, or Electronic Sports, be considered a sport?

What defines a sport? One source stated that sports are “America’s state-sponsored religion”. A sport may be defined as a nickname, entertainment, an activity, and