Simply, Esports leagues appear to be trying to make gaming appear to be a sport without actually making it into one. Like the addition of coaches in MLG games like Gears of War and Halo. That seems like a completely ludicrous addition to professional gaming and one that will not even make it more like a sport. Why does a gamer need a coach?
To make gaming in to a sport, they should make organizational changes. Let’s continue to use MLG as an example. A Halo 3 team in MLG should have to be sponsored by a corporation or person. A sponsor does not just pay for trips to Meadowlands and give you cool gaming rigs. That individual should own the team and they make the roster changes. If Ogre 1 and Ogre 2 do not like Walshy any more, too bad. They do not have a say, the sponsor does. Teams shouldn’t be just a group of friends that got together one day and also have played together since. They should be solid foundations which will exist years from essentially, with our without it’s current player roster.
They should implement a regular season. Instead of going to a handful of tournament events or competing in some online ladder, the teams associated with the season are set at the beginning of the season. No more can teams join or leave after the season is underway. Thus, schedules are set for each team. In case you are scheduled to play a team, you go to that location and play them. Real sports teams and players travel a whole lot. It appears gamers sit at home training for the next event. You train through the off-season in a sport, and play through the season. Why would competitive play be held online when you have network issues, potential cheating, and lag? It doesn’t make sense. So there is no reason they should not be traveling around the country to play their next scheduled opponent.
Each team would have the exact same number of games played. After the season is over, playoffs will be seeded and played in the tournament-style events like Meadowlands. That should be how playoffs are carried out. Right now it appears they have no relevance at all the other than winning you money and giving you points.
There must also be a scouting combine. You can not simply up and join an MLG competition one day. You shall have to enter into a separate league and compete there until you are invited by a team owner to join an MLG team. That might give legitimacy to the league and also probably weed out a lot of want to-be’s and posers since they aren’t going to want to compete and travel a great deal.
Another idea I had for American professional gaming could be to hold state tournaments which may recognize the most effective players which live in each state. These players would then qualify to compete on the main MLG or professional circuit. I think something like this would be more feasible than a minor leagues for gaming. And c’mon, Click Link who doesn’t like saying things like I went to states in 2009.’
Physicality will not matter
A whole lot of folks say gaming is not a sport because it isn’t physical. I’m not saying this because it is debatable regardless of whether sports require physical activity. After all, NASCAR is considered a sport by some and also the driver just sits there. Bowling is also considered a sport and that involves very little physicality. It is also debatable regardless of whether gaming has no physicality within the first place. Gaming requires reaction time and motor skills and additionally critical and analytical thinking, just like real sports. I think the real reasons that men and women say gaming is just not a sport is simply because of the ones outlined above. It just seems more like a hobby and also does not conduct itself in a professional or sports-like manner.