For those of you who thought video games were simply Super Mario Kart or Pac-Man, prepare to have your mind blown. Big things are happening in esports. The NBA (National Basketball League) created the NBA esports league, Las Vegas has built large esports venues and the Evolution Championship Series (EVO) was broadcast live on ESPN.
That’s great but what does esports mean? Don't worry, we won't leave you hanging.
This sport is growing and here to stay,
The Last Night’s Game Team
Five things to know about esports
- Professional gamers play in tournaments and online. Online play will attract over 100,000 viewers who watch through Twitch, owned by Amazon, or YouTube. If you think that’s odd, we watch guys play football on TV. Same same but different.
- Tournaments are often dictated by the game (i.e. Call of Duty) or esports gaming leagues (i.e. Major League Gaming). Games are categorized by PC (computer) or console (i.e. Xbox).
- Corporations are following the trend. Players resemble race car drivers with sponsor logos all over their tournament clothes. Coke and Nissan are on board and Red Bull has a massive portfolio of esports teams. (Click here for more on the income of professional gamers).
- It is an unregulated sport. There is no national governing body like the NBA or NFL (National Football League).
- There are colleges that offer scholarships for esports like University of California, Irvine. A college esports team is similar to a track team where everyone on the team has a specialty such as the 100m dash. On an esports team the game is their specialty (i.e. League of Legends or Street Fighter).
- Thank you to our esports expert Richard Mitchell – project lead for the XPO Festival, a festival for gamers, fans, developers and game industry leaders.
Overtime
- NBA Hall of Famer Shaquille “Shaq” O’Neal announced he will be running for sheriff in 2020. The honorary deputy's goal is to bring people together.
Sideline stat
- The global audience for esports in 2016 was 256 million people and is projected to reach 345 million by 2019. If esports was a country, it would be the fifth largest in the world.
Coaches’ corner
- The Oakland A’s (MLB – Major League Baseball) have won an astounding three games in a row on walk-offs. The most impressive part? Massive amounts of Skittles are fueling their rallies. Don’t try this at work.
A walk-off is when the home team takes the lead in the last inning. Since the home team goes last – i.e. the visiting team won’t have a chance to bat again – the game ends immediately.