Basically, Esports leagues seem 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 will not even make it more like a sport. Why does a gamer need a coach?
To make gaming into a sport, they should make organizational changes. Let’s continue to use MLG 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 individual should own the team and they make the roster changes. If Ogre 1 and Ogre 2 don’t like Walshy anymore, 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 have played together ever since. They should be solid foundations that will exist years from basically, 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 some online ladder, the teams involved with the season are set at the beginning of the season. No more can teams join or leave once the season is underway. Thus, schedules are set for each team. In the event that 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 seems 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 excellent online soccer gambling site whenever you have network issues, potential cheating, and lag? It doesn’t make sense. So there’s no reason they shouldn’t be traveling around the country to play their next scheduled opponent.
Each team would have the same range of games played. After the season is over, playoffs could be seeded and played within the tournament-style events like Meadowlands. That should be how playoffs are performed. Right now it appears they have no relevance at all the than winning you money and giving you points.
There should also be a scouting combine. You can’t simply up and join an MLG competition one day. You may have to enter into a separate league and compete there until you are invited by a team owner to join an MLG team. That could give legitimacy to the league and additionally probably weed out a lot of want to-be’s and posers because they are not going to want to compete and travel a lot.
Another idea I had for American professional gaming would be to hold state tournaments which would recognize the top players that live in each state. These players would then be eligible to compete on the main MLG or professional circuit. I think something like this could be more feasible than a minor leagues for gaming. And c’mon, who does not like saying aspects such as I went to states in 2009.’
Physicality will not matter
A great deal of people say gaming is not a sport because it is not physical. I am not saying this since it is debatable whether or not sports require physical activity. In the end, NASCAR is recognized as a sport by some and also the driver just sits there. Bowling is additionally considered a sport and which involves very little physicality. It’s also debatable whether or not 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 folks say gaming isn’t a sport is simply 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.