5 Facts About eSports
Thirty years ago, even die-hard gamers would have deemed the idea that one day, in the not too distant future, pro-gamers would be competing against one another in strategy-intense, high profile, televised tournaments, an exotic one. But no more. eSports (or electronic sports) is the newest kid on the block in the world of professional competitive video-gaming. Whilst its certainly true that traditional sports has a heads-up on eSports as far as the general timeline is concerned – it’s also true that eSports isn’t entering into the popularity-challenge lying down. Instead, it’s crashing onto the scene in a manner that is every bit as boisterous as it is spectacular – and the truth is, its early days yet.
Fact: A World Divided
The eSports arena is a fractured one – with the verdict still out on who truly “owns” it. As is the case with traditional sports, it seems to be a matter of regional ownership – with the world-wide industry showing the kind of growth the likes of which has not yet been seen before. In 2015, a Swedish television company bought majority stakes in DreamHack and ESL. This year, the high-profile circle widened, with German (traditional) sporting giant FC Schalke 04 buying into the League of Legends Championship Series – two eSports leagues owned by Riot Games. Not to mention Turner Sports’ decision to run ELEAGUE (Counter Strike) as well as host a Valve major event. The dividing line between traditional sports and eSports seems to be blurring to the point of being near non-existent.
Fact: The Road To Longevity
UK-based Ginx TV nicked the eSports television channel arena by launching a daily show called “The Bridge”. The truly astonishing bit is that it was all made possible by enormous cash injections from Sky and ITV. With broadcasting being the most crucial vehicle towards turning eSports into legal tender, this certainly was a very common-sense based move. What with in-game currency being a highly controversial legal no man’s land, the conversion to legal tender by other means has become fundamental.
Fact: Buying Into Strategy Is Vital To Success
Learning the basic strategies and rules of your game of interest will serve the purpose of being able to make a sound decision regarding which team to back and bet on. One need not become a master of all that is eSports in order to place successful bets – but being able to discern for yourself between a wanna-be team of competitors and a well-oiled machine will mean the difference between winning and losing.
Fact: A House With Many Rooms
Despite for fact that the eSports industry has experienced immense growth and at a speed faster than that of light, there is still a lot of free market-space available to those wanting to buy into the arena of wagering on eSports. As gamers and spectators become increasingly more comfortable with the idea of wagering on the outcome of what is essentially a video game, the industry will inevitably become more satisfied – so best to strike that particular iron while it’s still hot.
