Primarily, Electronic sports 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 totally ludicrous addition to professional gaming and one that does 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 being an example. A Halo 3 team in MLG should have to be sponsored by a corporation or person. A sponsor will not just pay for trips to Meadowlands and provide you cool gaming rigs. That person 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 don’t have a say, the sponsor does. Teams should not be just a group of friends that got together one day and also have played together ever since. They should be solid foundations that can exist years from generally, with our without it’s current player roster.
They should implement a regular season. Rather than going to a handful of tournament events or competing in certain online ladder, the teams linked to the season are set at the beginning of the season. No more can teams join or leave in the event the season is underway. Thus, schedules are set for each team. In the event you are scheduled to play a team, you go to that location and play them. Real sports teams and players travel a great deal. 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 whenever you have network issues, potential cheating, and lag? It doesn’t make sense. So there is no reason they shouldn’t be traveling around the country to play their next scheduled opponent.
Each team might have the same range of games played. After the season is over, playoffs will be seeded and played within the tournament-style events like Meadowlands. That should be how playoffs are carried out. Right now it appears they have no relevance at all other than winning you money and giving you points.
There should also be a scouting combine. You can not simply up and join an MLG competition one day. You may have to enter in to a separate league and compete there until you are invited by a team owner to join an MLG team. That will give legitimacy to the league and also probably weed out a lot of want to-be’s and posers since they are not going to want to compete and travel a whole lot.
Another idea I had for American professional gaming would be to hold state tournaments which may recognize the most effective players which live in each state. These players would then be eligible to compete on the main MLG or professional circuit. I think something like click this link now could be more feasible than a minor leagues for gaming. And c’mon, who does not like saying things like I went to states in 2009.’
Physicality doesn’t matter
A great deal of individuals say gaming is not a sport because it’s not physical. I am not saying this because it is debatable whether sports require physical activity. In the end, NASCAR is recognized as a sport by some and also the driver just sits there. Bowling can also be considered a sport and which involves very little physicality. It is also debatable whether or not gaming has no physicality within the first place. Gaming requires reaction time and motor skills and also critical and analytical thinking, just like real sports. I think the real reasons that men and women say gaming isn’t a sport is mainly because of the ones outlined above. It just seems more like a hobby and doesn’t conduct itself in a professional or sports-like manner.