WHAT ARE ESPORTS?

With the recent surge of participation in eSports will a new field of viewership become the next trend?

Whether it’s basketball, baseball, or football most individuals see sports as showing great physical abilities. While it is very true that physical expenditure is one way to define a sport, there are also sports that don’t require special physique but still allow players to show their skill.

One example for people showing this skill is through eSports. eSports, or electronic sports, are defined as competitive multiplayer video games for people with unique skill in areas such as reaction time, precision, tactics and teamwork.

Games such as Hearthstone, League of Legends, and specifically Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO) are utilized by players all across the globe for a venue to become the best they can be.

For juniors Silas Gaddie and Samuel Jackson, eSports have become their passion over the years and has become something they enjoy watching or participating in frequently.  

“I have been following CS:GO and eSports for about 2 years now,”Gaddie said. “I think CS:GO especially is getting bigger and is even up there with sports like basketball since the biggest CS:GO tournaments have over one million dollar prize pools.”

In addition to large tournaments and money involved for participating teams, some of the more well-known CS:GO teams like SK Gaming and Astralis receive sponsorships from popular companies like Visa or Audi.

With big companies participating in professional eSports, teams are now getting even more benefits than ever before.

“It’s great that teams are getting these sponsorships and more brands are supporting eSports,” Jackson said. “It provides more content for the viewers while also spreading the word of eSports.”

To find out more about eSports, head over to YouTube Gaming or Twitch to watch live streams and unlimited content of eSport players all across the world.