Why I Believe Video Games Belong On ESPN And Other Sports Networks

By Nathan Young on July 31, 2015

A few weeks ago, the Alexander City Outlook put out an opinion piece about why video games coverage does not belong on ESPN. I was not going to talk about this, but then I applied to a job they were advertising where I would be a good fit, like what I am doing here on Geek Alabama. Well I never heard back from them, go figure! So I thought it was time to talk about why I think having ESPN, Fox Sports, and other sports networks covering competitive gaming is a major step forward in the world of video games!

Electronic sports or competitive gaming has been gaining more players and eyeballs as video games get better graphically and hardware wise. The writer on the Alex City Outlook article says video games are not sports, but in my opinion, video games are sports! Even if you are not competing in video game tournaments, you will often find geeks and nerds paying video games with other friends at the same time over Xbox Live or the Playstation Network. More and more people love the experience of enjoying a great video game and enjoying time with their friends, even if their friends are not in the same room!

ESPN has been the leader of covering video game sports. I mean, they came out with the eSports edition of ESPN The Magazine. And they are airing video game matches on ESPN. Heck, if the hot dog eating contest can air on ESPN, than I think competitive video games can air on the sports network! And video game leagues are getting more serious by drug testing the players, like what the NFL does. And in that article, they wrote that playing video games is not an actual, physical talent and skill like football or basketball is. Well, playing video games professionally is an actual talent! As for physical, you have to have good eye contact and wonderful hand movement to make sure you stay alive, kind of like in football!

Professional video game tournaments are gaining many more people and matches are watched by a lot of people in arenas. The main reason is more and more people are becoming more like the geeks and nerds like I am. And when you become more hardcore geeky and nerdy like me, you care about things like video games! The writer who wrote the article on the Alex City Outlook loves video games and plays them, but does not want to see video game coverage on ESPN. I mean, ESPN has got to air something during the summer!

There’s no high school or college sports, basketball, hockey, and football is not playing, and the only pro sports going on is baseball, NASCAR, with golf, tennis, and cycling sprinkled in. ESPN is losing more and more rights of sports to other networks, and ESPN has got to air something during primetime other than repeats of Sports Center. Video games like Call of Duty, Grand Theft Auto V, or even Five Nights at Freddy’s are very popular with mostly everyone. eSports is something that will continue to grow and become even more popular, and someone needs to cover it, why not ESPN?

ESPN can not cover football 24/7 365 days a year, like what some people here in Alabama wishes. Sports come in cycles every year, and eSports is a new type of sport that should be covered! Playing video games is like playing football or basketball, it’s a sport! Heck, if you don’t like seeing video games being played on ESPN, you might as well get over it! Because soon it will also air on Fox Sports, NBC Sports, CBS Sports, and other sports networks. This is almost like robot fighting, which I would also consider a sport. Battlebots aired on ABC; I wish it would also repeat on ESPN, because robot fighting is also a sport, like playing video games.