ESPN Continues esports Experiment

by
October 17, 2014

Between esports scholarships and ESPN previously showing the Defense of the Ancients 2 — or DotA 2 — on their ESPN3 stream, the “worldwide leader” is continuing their foray into esports. Yesterday ESPN announced their intent to broadcast the League of Legends — commonly shortened to LoL — World Championship finals on ESPN3 this Sunday, October 19 at 2:30 am Eastern, 11:30 pm Pacific. The finals are being held in South Korea, almost inarguably the esports capital of the world.

lol2

The announcement came as a bit of a surprise given not even a month ago ESPN President John Skipper didn’t mince words on his thoughts on the esports as a sport debate at the Code/Media Series: New York:

“It’s not a sport — it’s a competition. Chess is a competition. Checkers is a competition…Mostly, I’m interested in doing real sports.”

The signals may be getting mixed, as according to some sources, ESPN execs were “delighted” with the viewership numbers from their DotA 2 stream. While there may not be any other DotA 2 events in the near future for ESPN, it is clear the network is interested in esports.

Athletes are getting on the esports hype train too. Gordon Hayward of the Utah Jazz recently tweeted his affection for LoL while simultaneously challenging LeBron James. Hayward, no stranger to esports has previously mentioned StarCraft II and even joined a StarCraft II tournament.

Regardless of whether professional athletes join the ranks of professional gamers, ESPN has clearly found the previously little niche genre of esports is rapidly growing. Between the streams available on Twitch.TV, YouTube and ESPN, plenty of LoL action will be viewable this weekend. While we aren’t at the point of tailgating for esports, we’re getting awfully close. As more and more companies realize the viewership potential, ad revenue and product placement opportunities, expect the contrast between esports and sports continue to fade.
(Header image via Riot Games, makers of League of Legend)





 

You can catch David spouting off about baseball, soccer, esports and other things by following him on twitter, @davidwiers.

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Anonymous
9 years ago

For what it’s worth, there is still a distinction between Video Games and ESPORTS.

Starcraft II is a video game. The GOMTV Starcraft II League would fall under the ESPORTS umbrella. ESPORTS advocates are not trying to claim that everyone who plays Starcraft II is suddenly an e-athlete. Only video game events that take place in a tournament setting are typically referred to as ESPORTS.

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Cooper
9 years ago
Reply to  Anonymous

I don’t think that distinction is quite fair; the people playing pickup basketball at the Y are playing the same game as NBA players despite the level of competition being much different. Whether or not a specific activity is considered an “esport” shouldn’t depend on the skill level of the participants or the setting in which they play.

I understand why some esports advocates would want to restrict the title to only the highest levels of competition in an attempt to “legitimize” it in the eyes of outsiders. I don’t think that is necessary at all, or even helpful.

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Anonymous
9 years ago
Reply to  Cooper

I think I’m focusing more on the ‘athlete’ portion of the ‘sports’ in question. Anyone can play basketball, but simply playing it does not make you an ‘athlete’. The parallel should be maintained when discussing ESPORTS.

Full disclosure: This is a preemptive strike against those who would discredit ESPORTS by pointing at the legions of neckbearded basement-dwelling nerds of the world, and shouting incredulously “THESE guys are your athletes?!”

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Anon
9 years ago
Reply to  Anonymous

Fishing is probably a better comparison than basketball.

Sport fishing is a vastly different experience than fishing for leisure due to specialized equipment and accessories, different technique, and varying objectives. The same can be said of casual video games compared to esports.

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David Wiers
9 years ago
Reply to  Anonymous

I think esports are a sub group of video games. Think of them like Russian Dolls. The biggest is video games, followed by esports, then professional gamers are the smallest doll.

Anon, fishing is a great comparison and so is poker. ESPN casts a wide net on their sports networks, from fishing on ESPN2 to the spelling be to the hot dog eating contest. Just because something is on the ESPN network, be it online or on TV, doesn’t legitimize it as a sport overnight, It’s almost a de jure vs de facto type thing. In most people’s mind’s eye, esports aren’t a sport, but they do meet a lot of bullet points of a sport. From the required hand-eye coordination, long hours of practice, to reviewing film/demos/VODs, to studying opponent and league/metagame trends — stupid widow mine buff — , there is plenty of basis to call it a real sport.

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Joe
9 years ago

When it comes to this discussion of “legitimacy” I’m always reminded of Joe DiMaggio’s father, who thought his son was a lazy good-for-nothing because he played a kid’s game instead of getting a real job.

Whatever you think of this category of competition, you have to admit its growth is pretty impressive.

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