Esports is a booming global industry where skilled video gamers compete. This year, 380 million people will watch esports either online or in person, according to Newzoo.
Contrary to popular perception, esports players and fans are not socially inept, isolated couch potatoes. In fact, gaming is vibrant community sites with a diverse demographic.
The Phenomenon
The esport phenomenon is a global industry in which skilled video gamers compete. It is a growing arena that rivals traditional sports.
Players are contract to teams that train together and individually to improve their skills, much like a football or basketball team would. They also follow a personalised diet to optimise their reaction times and performance.
Despite the stereotypical image of gaming as isolated teenage males spending all day in their basement, a burgeoning esport industry is real and growing globally (Hedlund, 2021). The emergence of this industry presents unique opportunities to promote physical activity and health-promoting behaviours among gamers and esports participants.
This article aims to introduce the esports phenomenon, its structure and development, and the unique challenges everyone involved — players, fans, coaches, media, and corporate sponsors — faces. It then presents some potential solutions to improve the situation and encourage systematic scientific research so that evidence-base guidelines and intervention strategies involv regular physical activity, healthy diet, and sleep hygiene are develope.
The Industry
eSports is the term use to describe a global industry where skilled video gamers compete competitively against each other. It encompasses competitions across a wide range of popular games like League of Legends, Dota 2, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, Overwatch and Fortnite. It also includes the growing community of fans and aspiring professional video gamers who follow them through their careers as well as the technology platforms, services and events that support the entire ecosystem.
Its popularity is unquestionable and 380 million people are expect to watch eSports worldwide this year. This is more than the total audiences for traditional sports like football, baseball or basketball. In fact, more people watched the 2016 world finals of the popular eSport game League of Legends than the NBA finals that same year. It’s an industry with a huge reach and that’s why it appeals to brands looking to connect with the right audience.
The Spectators
The popularity of esports, also known as electronic sports or electronically organized video gaming has generated an increasing interest in the topic from all social sciences, including sociology. Esports transforms gaming into an international spectator sport, where professional gamers compete in organized tournaments with millions of fans watching online or attending live events.
eSports feature teams of gamers that specialize in a particular game and compete for huge cash prizes at the highest level of competitive gaming. These teams are manag and coached like traditional sports clubs, while gamers compete as individuals in 1v1 games. Several scholars have investigated the consumption of esports, finding that factors such as knowledge of the game, escapism, novelty and esport athlete aggressiveness predict esports spectating frequency (Hamari and Sjoblom 2017).
While some people still question whether or not eSports is truly a sport – as it involves sitting down, no physical activity and the majority of competitors are male – for many fans, eSports is a legitimate pursuit that engages them in ways traditional sports could never. It may take years for eSports to gain full acceptance as a sport but it is here to stay and it is attracting massive audiences of passionate fans.
The Players
Esports are a dynamic phenomena that engage millions of fans worldwide. They are also a growing industry with massive global competitions and corporate sponsorships. Professional esport athletes have dedicated followings and can rake in seven figure paychecks.
Players compete against other teams or play solo in games such as League of Legends, Dota 2 or Counter-Strike. These tournaments take place online and at physical arenas and offer cash prizes to competitors. Popular eSports are multiplayer online battle arenas (where teams fight each other for control of a map) and real-time strategy (where players build armies to dominate a map).
While gamers have been stereotyp as isolated teenage males that spend their time playing video games, research has shown that modern gamers are not socially inept “couch potatoes” (Williams 2003), and that they are a vibrant and diverse community that enjoys practicing, watching and discussing video game content. However, the growth of esports has created new challenges for players and spectators alike.
