Is gaming a professional sport?

They'd like to think it is but nah no way they can keep dreaming, it will never be big like real sport which takes real talent not just some loser that hasn't got work or bills to pay so can sit around all day playing starcraft.

It's not natural talent or skill in gaming it's just sheer time put in to a game.

evo peaked at 140k viewers kind of puts it in to perspective 140k is nothing.

To this day I have no idea why people even like lol its so dated and well... ordinary, I guess it's because it's free and runs on crap pc's.
 
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C64 said:
They'd like to think it is but nah no way they can keep dreaming, it will never be big like sport which takes real talent not just some loser that hasn't got work or bills to pay so can sit around all day playing starcraft.

evo peaked at 140k viewers kind of puts it in to perspective 140k is nothing.
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Ah yes the losers who practice to be better at something they enjoy and get paid to do it.... oh no wait :rolleyes: You do realise you have just described every sports person in the world, well except the loser bit.

To be honest for me it is a sport, if darts can be I see no reason why not, but as a spectator sport gaming just doesn't make much sense to me. I guess many share similar views given the number who watch compared to the massive number of gamers.
 
arknor said:
so your saying scrabble is a sport?
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I'm not saying anything, I'm provoking a discussion; I wouldn't class scrabble as a sport - by the very definition post above it would be, but I just don't see enough competition compared to the captive gaming audience.
 
Anything that is competitive is considered a sport these days, if monopoly was extremely popular/skillful you can bet your top dollar that there would be a 'sport' based around it. While I personally don't think video gaming quite counts as a sport, it certainly does in the eyes of the people who's opinions actually matter, hence the tons of sponsored gaming events big and small all around the globe.

I don't think that darts/snooker/golf are sports either tbh. :o
 
Anything that has to be routinely "balanced" shouldn't be considered a sport in the traditional sense.

This is from someone who loves esports by the way, I watch LoL and SC2 regularly.

escape sanity said:
Chess is no more a sport than Monopoly.
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Chess is a recognised sport, Chess relies on nothing but player skill whereas Monopoly relies on several elements of luck (dice, cards etc) hence the distinction.

There are no built in random events in Chess, the only thing that effects the game comes directly from the player manipulating pieces which act in consistent and 100% predictable ways.
 
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playing games is something you can do to make money, so to me its a sport.

Many people spend there entire day streaming to make money so its a profession, nobody will sit and watch a crap player cos its boring.
 
MadMan-JaMeS said:
playing games is something you can do to make money, so to me its a sport.

Many people spend there entire day streaming to make money so its a profession, nobody will sit and watch a crap player cos its boring.
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Sure, I don't think anyone's saying it's not a profession.

Regardless, it's not really a sport, but that doesn't take anything away from what it is, and it doesn't mean it's not a profession.
 
It can't be a sport. Everyone knows a real sport has to have hooligans in the crowd :rolleyes:

There is absolutely nothing separating gaming from any other type of sport. If you went to a country where football wasn't such a big thing they'd wonder why people would spend there lives kicking a ball around.
 
Xiler said:
Really then why is chess classed as a sport or any other board sport or darts its not physically demanding.

The problem with drawing is its an art and would be hard to score unless there was a set standard of how the final drawing should look, which would defeat the purpose of drawing/art.
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No it's not hard to score, you compare drawings to determine the best. Being an art is irrelevant, some would class football as an art.

If sitting there playing the computer against other people to try and win is a sport, then sitting there drawing, or playing guitar, or playing scrabble against someone else trying to win is a sport.

It's all or none.
 
I think a good question would be "are there any sports besides rugby, mma, nfl & various fight disciplines". If a sport is measured on it's physical exertion then volleyball, tennis, javelin, shot put, long jump, croquet, bowling, darts, snooker, golf, dodgeball, all racing besides formula (the list continues) shouldn't be called sports. Not that I'm saying gaming is a sport, but I don't see how it's any less of a sport in the worlds eyes than any of them, especially vehicular racing which is essentially the same thing.
 
Personally I think it is a sport. I have played Starcraft 2 and followed the scene since its release. Now there was also a massive following with the original game as well. Try telling the South Koreans Starcraft isn't a sport!

I enjoy watching tournaments and would much rather watch it than football/golf/snooker.

There is also massive money in it, from sponsors and prizes. a lot of it from the game developers themselves. This was posted on another forum I follow and makes for interesting reading.

http://www.vingle.net/posts/161306-The-Highest-Paid-Pro-Gamers-In-The-World

That is just prize money and doesn't factor in salaries/personal sponsorships.
 
Why would you want to classify it as a sport anyway?
Gaming is just as valid a pass time as any sport in my view & it's only going to get more validity as more & more gamers age & younger games come into the pass time. I don't see a need to bundle it in with sports! it won't give it anymore credibility amongst non-gamers or any less from people who love gaming.
 
Yes. Korea already have it down as a reconised sport and career, and more EU countrys are starting to reconise it too.

Forbes recently did an article on it, listing the top payed pro gamers. The top earning over 400k so far. Might not seem a lot compared to other sports but its growing. Just look at the big tournys that are going on currently, they are geting bigger and bigger. Give it 10 years. Pro gaming will be on TV and it will be getting the exposure like Football ect.

EDIT: Link to a very simular article: http://www.businessinsider.com/the-highest-paid-professional-gamers-2013-7?op=1
 
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Lack of physical exertion :p there is a lot of skill + competition but that's all, and going by the logic of the thread so far (and mine to a degree) no physical exertion = not a sport.
 
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