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How Esports has Grown From the Living Room to Stadiums How Esports have Conquered the World

Esports is no longer forgotten in the world of traditional sports

By Tawny Davis

TAWNY DAVIS: You see this all the time, kids in front of a screen playing video games for hours. You would think they are just wasting their time, but what if I told you, they were playing a professional sport.

DAVIS: That’s right, it’s called Esports. Now the first question people ask is, what is Esports? Well according to the University of Oklahoma’s website, it is a segment of the gaming industry fixated on professional levels of competitive game play or according to Brandon Villarreal, a shout caster which is the equivalent to a traditional play by play announcer its,

BRANDON VILLARREAL: The Easiest translation is literally, think of just sports but online.

DAVIS: Kids from all over are playing in various tournaments around the world, playing games like, Super Smash Bros., Overwatch, Call of Duty, Killer Instinct and the most popular game, League of Legends. They play these games on consoles like, Xbox, Playstation 4, Nintendo Switch as well as a PC, but what has pushed this popularity forward?

OLIVIA STOMSKI: Especially during the pandemic where traditional sports had to halt, Esports never did. So we’re seeing more and more interest in Esports come in from people who hadn’t noticed before.

DAVIS: This popularity has even made universities add them to their athletic programs as an official sport because of the rising interest from students.

STOMSKI: You have interest and were looking at an entirely new landscape for our students to work and be engaged, universities need to pay attention.

VILLARREAL: It shows our growth in how many people are supporting it and are in our discord which is pretty much our community and how that goes, OU finally couldn’t say no to us anymore.

DAVIS: Even at Syracuse University, they are the first to have a class that teaches the different aspects that goes into Esports.

STOMSKI: In that class we talk about the history of Esports, we talk about gaming. We talking about gender and diversity withig the games themselves as well as Esports and the culture wrapped around.

DAVIS: What also makes Esports popular is the amount of celebrities that are involved. Celebs like Michael Jordan, Mike Tyson, Drake and Kyler Murray have all either invested in Esports or have signed on to become professional players themselves.

DAVIS: So in short, Esports is not going away and according to Brandon and Professor Stomski, there is so much more that has yet to be tapped into.

VILLARREAL: They have all this other backing from all these other countries to where we have worlds, there’s different regions that all play against each other and come together and were playing people from other countries and then we have our US representatives so its like the Olympics if you really think about it.

STOMSKI: As we’re starting to see the interest grow, you will see the marketing and advertising grow, you’ll see the events grow and therefore the entire industry will become bigger and bigger. What we do know is that Esports is here to stay, where it goes is really up to us.

SYRACUSE, N.Y. (NCC News) – Across the globe, people are glued to their screens playing games.

Whether it is on their phone, in front of a television or even a computer screen, people everywhere are playing all types of games. However, would you believe it if someone told you that they are not just playing video games, they are playing a professional sport.

It is called esports, and they are video games that are played in a competitive environment. It has been in the news lately because of the major tournaments included.

More people are getting involved because they play video game already, why not play them professionally. Some games that are played include, Super Smash Brothers, Overwatch, and the most popular game to date, League of Legends.

Esports are becoming more inviting because universities are adding them to their official rosters after seeing the rising interest from their student population.

Brandon Villarreal is a master’s student at the University of Oklahoma and he got involved in their esports program. He is now a shoutcaster for his team, which is the gaming world’s version of a play-by-play announcer. He also said that the university’s involvement is continuing to grow,

“They saw the interest grow every day, and now because of all the money that was brought in, we can now offer scholarships to students who want to pursue this in college,” Villarreal said.

Oklahoma is not the only university to get involved into the esports world. Syracuse University is the first school to offer a course that teaches everything you need to know about esports. It is taught by Professor Olivia Stomski and she said the class is way more than just teaching you how to play.

“Were looking at the history of esports as well as the gender diversity,” Stomski said  “We look at the marketing strategy, where is the money coming from and where is it going. It’s really an introduction to esports as well as the business side of it.”

What also brings people into the gaming world is the fact that several celebrities get involved as well. Celebs like Michael Jordan have invested millions of dollars into the gaming industry because they see the rising potential as well as a monetary aspect of it.

Others like Kyler Murray, a professional football player, have signed on to be professional gamer himself because of his love for video games.

In short, esports has only hit the tip of the iceberg. It will continue to grow as more and more people see the potential involved and what it could provide for them.

Villarreal said he wants people to realize that no matter what game people like to play, whether it be a game on their phone or on their computer, they are all considered gamers.

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