Should Video Games be considered a Sport?

Should Video Games be considered a Sport?

  • Yes.

    Votes: 34 24.5%

  • No.

    Votes: 105 75.5%
  • Total voters
    139
Not a sport really, because that is reserved for athleticism but I am perfectly ok with gaming being a competitive medium where talent and hard work can be rewarded with prizes or sponsorships.

eSports is really a pretty big thing and will be bigger in the future, it just shouldn't be categorized in with typical sports. Much like Poker isn't.
 
I'll chime in like Chess it is a competition and deserving of serious treatment as it is extremely competitive but do I think it should be counted in the Olympics? No.
 
Either way what does it matter what we call them?

I can ride my bicycle without sweating. And I usually sweat while playing driving games with my wheel setup. So what does that tell you? Nothing.

I don't care what they call anything. Names are just labels, it doesn't change the actual activity, and I won't be suddenly interested in videogame tournaments just because some a-hole somewhere says it's a sport.
 
You could argue this both ways. The dictionary definition of 'Sport' is "an activity involving physical exertion and skill in which an individual or team competes against another or others for entertainment."

Gaming doesn't necessarily require a ton of bodily physical exertion, but the MOBA genre in particular is extremely mentally exhausting. Playing a 75+ minute game of Dota 2 to me is significantly more exhausting than a 90 min soccer match in my local adult premier league.

Also...i can nail a free kick 8/10 times around the box in life, but ill be damned if i can hit a single one in FIFA
 
Does it take skill and practice/dedication? Yes.

Would I call it a sport? No. I also wouldn't use sweating as the defining factor; a morbidly obese gamer may sweat moving his mouse from the start menu to the X button, while Lebron James likely doesn't sweat doing ridiculous physical feats I couldn't even do to begin with.
 
Domingo said:
I went with no. I feel the same way about other competitive activities like darts, bowling, racing, etc.
Just because something is competitive and requires skill and coordination doesn't make it a sport...and there's nothing wrong with that. Just my opinion of course. To me, a sport is a full-body athletic endeavor. Anything else is a game of skill, a pastime, or whatever else you feel like calling it.
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Yep, a competitive activity is what I consider it as well. I dont see it as a sport but I guess its all a matter of opinion for this matter.
 
I just went 10/0 in GTA freemode killing and I ate half a tube of cookie dough
 
Fail said:
It's an e-sport.
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Hey, we agree again.

I think of it as that also, an e-sport, not in the same category as a traditional sport. Let sports be sports and e-sports be e-sports. Shit they are getting big enough to become their own category anyways.
 
Add another to the "no" option.

To me, to be considered a sport, the activity must incorporate ALL of the following:

1. Physical Activity with running required
2. Active Competition (meaning playing both offense and defense)
3. An agreed upon scoring system
4. Agreed upon rules enforced by officials

Video games pass 3 out of the 4 prerequisites (failing only physical activity) and thus I cannot consider it a sport. It does pass more tests than golf though, which fails both the physical activity and active competition requirements. Golf has competition, but it's a passive form.

That being said this whole argument about whether to include them under the umbrella of "sports" is asking the wrong the question. The real question is should watching and playing competitive video games be considered acceptable? To that I say let the market decide. And the market has decided with tens of millions of viewers.
 
Smythe said:
1. Physical Activity with running required
2. Active Competition (meaning playing both offense and defense)
3. An agreed upon scoring system
4. Agreed upon rules enforced by officials
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Boxing. Fencing. Swimming. Wrestling.
 
If you can't gain physical fitness by directly doing it then it is not a fucking sport.

Is this really that difficult?
 
Domingo said:
I went with no. I feel the same way about other competitive activities like darts, bowling, racing, etc.
Just because something is competitive and requires skill and coordination doesn't make it a sport...and there's nothing wrong with that. Just my opinion of course. To me, a sport is a full-body athletic endeavor. Anything else is a game of skill, a pastime, or whatever else you feel like calling it.
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This exactly! What's next Chess is a sport? Some of the most mentally and physically taxing activities (even in competitive terms) are still not considered a sport-proper. I don't see any reason anything competitive has to be rolled under one blanket category.

Call the activity what it is. That doesn't mean it shouldn't get media coverage, have large tournaments, prizes, sponsorships, etc. like a sport would, but don't try to make it what it isn't. I don't even watch "real" sports, but I do occasionally watch other competitive things. I don't think they refer to Iron Chefs in Kitchen Stadium athletes, or cooking a sport either. Nor should they.

Edit: In fact, sports fall under the category of games many times. Olympic games, the game of football, etc. etc.
 
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Yeah I think the guys who play for esports probably enjoy it for the youth of it until their reflexes start going away so it's just like any sport it's a young mans or girls game.
 
evilsofa said:
Boxing. Fencing. Swimming. Wrestling.
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Yeah, I need to make an amendment on my criteria for being a sport:
1. Prolonged physical activity where athletes must move around under their own power
2. Unchanged
3. An agreed upon objective scoring system
4. Unchanged

So to answer? your question? I would say maybe, maybe, no, maybe.

Boxing and wrestling are maybes because the scoring seems a bit too subjective unless a KO or pin occurs. I am biased against calling them sports, so initial thoughts would be no. Granted I don't know much about them so if the scoring of those activities are more objective than they appear then, yes, I would consider them sports.

Fencing is also a maybe. Again, I don't know much about this activity, but I don't think it passes the prolonged part of the first test. It's scoring system seems pretty objective though.

Just swimming is definitely a no. Activities that incorporate swimming and pass all other tests (e.g. water polo) would be a yes.
 
According to many people's criteria, taking a shit should be considered a sport.
 
As someone who does 12 and 24 hour endurance races on iRacing.

No.

Sure, you could call people who play for money professional gamers, but not athletes...or sports.
 
The tech/gaming industry has more than enough activities to keep it entertaining and competitive, so do sports. Leave them as seperated as possible before the two clash together and screw up what nostalgia we have left in our modern day sports.

Personally, ESPN can kiss my ass, their extreme biased perspectives/analysis towards my SF Giants in the last 6 years ( 3 WS titles in 5 years) has been a joke and not one person with ESPN still favors them.

ESPN can kick rocks for all I care.


If anyone actually played competitive sports, like baseball or football, and actually climbed the ladder, they would most definitely(and likely)be against dubbing sitting on your ass, looking at a screen, a sport.
 
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The official definition. So no, its not a sport. And anyone who considers playing a video game a sport needs their head examined. Most likely, you never played a "sport" if you agree that gaming is a sport. I love video games and I have played video games since I was 5 years old, but I have never considered it a sport (and I played competitive tourneys years back in multiple games).

Its pretty embarrassing the road this world is going down. Everyone hates ESPN, blah blah, but their "Play 60" campaign is great. Its something that all parents should take note of. My son plays video games, has XBone/360 and a gaming PC, but he also gets the fuck out of the house and plays real sports. Gaming is fine, within reason. As soon as kids believe that its a sport and can sit on their ass all day is the day this world has no future.

sport
noun

: a contest or game in which people do certain physical activities according to a specific set of rules and compete against each other

: sports in general

: a physical activity (such as hunting, fishing, running, swimming, etc.) that is done for enjoyment


**ERRR, I guess it is a sport as soon as the 26 year old slob who stays at home playing his "sport" beats his meat. That counts for physical activity, no?

And for everyone ragging on golf, Nascar, ect ect, get a grip. You obviously have never played sports and do not understand the physical aspect. I could guarantee that you guys who are saying NASCAR isnt a sport couldnt jump in the car in 100+ temps w/ a fire suit, fight a steering wheel trying to control a car that is just going in circles for 500 miles straight. Youd get done and go lay in bed for a week from being so sore. Even in the "less sporty" sports, there is still much more physical exertion than most people put out in a week.
 
^As much as I agree with your thoughts on sports vs non sports, I highly disagree with belittling or degrading others to make your point.

I've played baseball for nearly 18 years, highest level of competition I've played is D1 in college, so just under the minors. One thing I've learned and was taught in sports from numerous coaches and trainers, is to never pick on the weak guy. It makes you look like a jerk and shows terrible sportsmanship. Or lack there of.

Besides this, from all the tech stuff involved into major sports now (HD cameras, replay challenges, etc.) I wouldn't be that surprised gaming made it's way in eventually. Should it? IMO no, but eh, people will do what we want to do.

Maybe, just maybe VR takes off and we'll see more sweating involved with gaming, so it would accomplish more than just sitting on our asses. Haha
 
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doz said:
And for everyone ragging on golf, Nascar, ect ect, get a grip. You obviously have never played sports and do not understand the physical aspect.
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I do have a grip and do understand the physical aspect...I've ridden my bicycle more than you have driven your car this year probably (My own car's odometer is less than 1/10th my bike's), all human pedal power. The catch being those NASCAR or golf or what have you guys don't get to that athletic condition by driving a car all fucking day long. They get to that condition by doing just about anything else.

I gave my position on binning NASCAR, golf, gun shooting and the like quite clearly earlier. And I think my reasoning is sound. Is NASCAR hard? Sure. So is piano playing. Piano playing takes a massive amounts of training (thousands of hours per year of practice for decades), enormous physical and mental stamina, concentration, and a fair deal of luck too. Doesn't make piano playing a "sport", either.
 
Skripka said:
I do have a grip and do understand the physical aspect...I've ridden my bicycle more than you have driven your car this year probably (My own car's odometer is less than 1/10th my bike's), all human pedal power. The catch being those NASCAR or golf or what have you guys don't get to that athletic condition by driving a car all fucking day long. They get to that condition by doing just about anything else.

I gave my position on binning NASCAR, golf, gun shooting and the like quite clearly earlier. And I think my reasoning is sound. Is NASCAR hard? Sure. So is piano playing. Piano playing takes a massive amounts of training (thousands of hours per year of practice for decades), enormous physical and mental stamina, concentration, and a fair deal of luck too. Doesn't make piano playing a "sport", either.
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Well maybe a piano should register as a sport :)
 
Eshelmen said:
Well maybe a piano should register as a sport :)
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How about Olympic Shakespearean Acting? Just because something is hard and takes a ton of effort doesn't mean it is a "sport". I draw the line:

-Must be able to attain or maintain physical conditioning doing the activity by itself.
-Needs to be a natural competition between players. I.e. none of the 1 to 10 "judged" crap.

Simple, cuts out lots of stuff...but as a musician who has been on juries grading people, I hate juried contests and see the BS in them. Athletic art like dance or gymnastics is athletic art, and shouldn't be cheapened out by scoring nonsense. Few years ago one of the American gymnast girl put on one hell of an uneven bars routine-got a crap score. Why? She skipped something, that watching live without a cheat sheet you would never have known was supposed to be there.

Kids need to be encouraged to get off their duffs, put down the Cheetos and do run off calories. Anything that you can keep or worsen a Spare Tire while doing at a professional level, just misses the point. Sure it is a competition, but...Nope. Not in my book.
 
Eshelmen said:
^As much as I agree with your thoughts on sports vs non sports, I highly disagree with belittling or degrading others to make your point.

I've played baseball for nearly 18 years, highest level of competition I've played is D1 in college, so just under the minors. One thing I've learned and was taught in sports from numerous coaches and trainers, is to never pick on the weak guy. It makes you look like a jerk and shows terrible sportsmanship. Or lack there of.

Besides this, from all the tech stuff involved into major sports now (HD cameras, replay challenges, etc.) I wouldn't be that surprised gaming made it's way in eventually. Should it? IMO no, but eh, people will do what we want to do.

Maybe, just maybe VR takes off and we'll see more sweating involved with gaming, so it would accomplish more than just sitting on our asses. Haha
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I completely agree here, and I have raised my son that way. He is not as old, but he has played baseball now for 5 years. He always looks out for the kid who isnt as talented, and treats them with respect as he one that person at one time.

But degrading others? If you take it that way, sure I guess...... Its not a sport though, no matter how bad people want it to be. Call it e-sports if you will, sure, but dont classify it as a true sport and start reporting on it as if it really is a sport.
 
Who the fuck cares what it's called. Times change along with definitions. Esports viewership is higher than normal sports now, so if you expect channels like fsn and espn to not change... You are sadly mistaken. As for calling a sport based on athletic ability and skill, i respectfully disagree. A sport is a competition of skill and intellect. But again, who cares. It's not like sports matters. They are all for entertainment to pacify our minds and time. They don't cure cancer, fly spaceships to outterspace, bring peace in the world, etc...
 
Skripka said:
How about Olympic Shakespearean Acting? Just because something is hard and takes a ton of effort doesn't mean it is a "sport". I draw the line:

-Must be able to attain or maintain physical conditioning doing the activity by itself.
-Needs to be a natural competition between players. I.e. none of the 1 to 10 "judged" crap.

Simple, cuts out lots of stuff...but as a musician who has been on juries grading people, I hate juried contests and see the BS in them. Athletic art like dance or gymnastics is athletic art, and shouldn't be cheapened out by scoring nonsense. Few years ago one of the American gymnast girl put on one hell of an uneven bars routine-got a crap score. Why? She skipped something, that watching live without a cheat sheet you would never have known was supposed to be there.

Kids need to be encouraged to get off their duffs, put down the Cheetos and do run off calories. Anything that you can keep or worsen a Spare Tire while doing at a professional level, just misses the point. Sure it is a competition, but...Nope. Not in my book.
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Let's make commuting to work in traffic a sport too! 0_O LOL

BravO))) said:
Who the fuck cares what it's called. Times change along with definitions. Esports viewership is higher than normal sports now, so if you expect channels like fsn and espn to not change... You are sadly mistaken. As for calling a sport based on athletic ability and skill, i respectfully disagree. A sport is a competition of skill and intellect. But again, who cares. It's not like sports matters. They are all for entertainment to pacify our minds and time. They don't cure cancer, fly spaceships to outterspace, bring peace in the world, etc...
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0_o
 
RIP Sports, Long Live ESports!

If chess can be classed as a "sport" then so are competitive video games, DOTA 2 takes just as much brain power as chess.
 
Fine, but only if Counter-Strike 1.6 is used first, as a new sport. It's only fair.
:p
 
Video gaming a sport? Not really. Unless you count Kinect stuff like Dance Central where you are actually moving about. I associate sports with physical activity or being outdoors, usually both.

A pastime? Most certainly. Guess I'm old school when it comes down to it.
 
Azureth said:
With the rise of very large gaming tournaments there has been debate on whether or not Video Games should be considered a sport, how do you feel? The President of ESPN said it wasn't, yet at the same time ESPN shows poker tournaments, hell even Scrabble tournaments. Personally I think it should count.
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Anybody who considers poker a sport should consider video games and chess sports as well.

Any contest that has spectators should be considered a sport.
 
Personally, hell no. But if chess or poker are considered sports then so should video games.
 
I consider it as a sport.

Sport = competition utilizing physical and (not or) mental faculties. I would even go so far as to say any mental competition is a sport, as the mind is a tissue and a part of the physical body.

Any competition that requires physical and mental endurance for example is a sport. Any competition that requires hand eye coordination is a sport. Competitive gaming is often a competition requiring both. So easily a sport.
 
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