a NOT-BORING HISTORY LESSON The first sports people competed in were wrestling and running back in ancient Greece Thousands packed into stadiums to watch athletes compete in the very first Olympic Games Today millions of people watch a new kind of sport with a new type of athlete These competitions feature aliens soldiers orcs and more Electronic sports or esports have famous players and tournaments from the local to the international level Do you love gaming and competing Esports are perfect for you These sports rely on strategy instant decision making and quick actions Esports are rapidly becoming as popular as sports such as football soccer and tennis 4
As long as there have been video games there have been video game competitions Even one of the very first video games ever Pong let players face each other in a simple version of electronic tennis 5 The Entertainment and Sports Programming Network or ESPN was created in 1979 It’s the leading TV network for sports news and includes eight US cable channels 26 international channels two radio stations many websites and a magazine Recently ESPN has started covering esports news which can be found at espn com esports Esports have seen huge audience growth since ESPN began reporting on them ESPN
wHaT aRE ESpORTS The competitions can be a tournament with friends at your Esports means video gaming that’s been organized into competitions and is played for fans to watch All video games are competitive but esports are real-world competitions not just one character against another character inside the game home or playing other local gamers at a nearby game store Some events are private meaning only players that have been invited can compete There are even huge international tournaments Esports events can fill stadiums with thousands of fans and include gamers who are being paid to play 6 When you play a quick game of basketball with your friends you’re having fun while competing The game is entertainment for you and your friends When you join a basketball team you play against other teams in organized competition The game is entertainment for the crowd Esports are the same way Think of iT This Way
In 2O16 there were 13,576 esports athletes and 3,877 esports tournaments 7
