How Video Games Are Becoming University-Approved Sports

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I don't see what the big deal is about video games being an official club sport. It's like a big LAN party that is partially supported by your university.

The tournament, which cost just under $30,000 to stage, was funded mostly by sponsors and entry fees. The retail value of the prizes and merchandise — lanyards, keychains, special glasses that make lengthy screen time easier on the eyes — topped $160,000. But a small portion of the funds came from the club’s budget, which is provided by the university. And that signals a shift in college administrators’ thinking: They’re starting to see video-game clubs as valuable.
 
There was a school sanctioned club at my college that was for PC gaming and that was about 15 years ago. I do not know if they received any funds but they were allowed to use school property(lab) and equipment (PCs).
 
So when do the StarCraft, DOTA 2, Counter-Strike, etc. scholarships start pumping out for kids to go to these universities?

Now THAT will be an interesting subject if it ever happens.
 
rotarymotor said:
So when do the StarCraft, DOTA 2, Counter-Strike, etc. scholarships start pumping out for kids to go to these universities?

Now THAT will be an interesting subject if it ever happens.
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It'll happen if the university can make a healthy profit off of it. If you're an athletic-minded school, you scholarship althetes to drive admissions in other areas in tandem with also increasing game revenue and merchandise (etc) sales.
 
I always hated the term esports. Call it what it is, Competitive gaming.
 
cvinh said:
I always hated the term esports. Call it what it is, Competitive gaming.
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I mean, to be fair I'm good with either. So really does it matter? Only ones who it seems to bother are those like cug. Frankly I'm disappointed he hasn't been in here already complaining.
 
Dave65 said:
PLEASE tell me that is sarcasm:eek:
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It was - just a light hearted jab. Although both are very similar in that you sit around for long periods of time and then occasionally get up for a short walk. I jest of course, we both know that gamers rarely get up.
 
I don't think sport is the correct word for them, just like i don't consider darts or bowling a sport.
They need to have a new name of them (Please not e-sports).
 
nb14 said:
I don't think sport is the correct word for them, just like i don't consider darts or bowling a sport.
They need to have a new name of them (Please not e-sports).
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I agree, gaming is not a sport and calling them "e-sports" only encourages this craziness.

I've got some suggestions for them though:

e-games
e-activities
e-vents
 
Let's see, if this was something we did back in my college years, we would be playing MoH AA, RTCW, Brood War, WC3, Q3, UT99.
 
Dekoth-E- said:
I mean, to be fair I'm good with either. So really does it matter? Only ones who it seems to bother are those like cug. Frankly I'm disappointed he hasn't been in here already complaining.
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You're always so worried about what I think. It's pretty obvious that you're super insecure about what you do with your time and feel a lot of guilt for doing it.

Also...I don't at all have a problem with this. There are people dumb enough to glorify really obese men that chase a ball around on a 100 yard field and then get all sweaty and pile on top of one another to the point where it takes guys in prison uniform stripes to pull them apart from their romantic embrace. All while people are yelling at them through their TV screens and claiming they're "my team" or saying stuff like "we played a terrible game in Augusta yesterday" even though they never left their couch in Arizona that evening. If that's popular with people, then a university profiting from the equally slobbery nerd types that wanna get in on some kind of competition that feeds their need to beat each other up (virtually since real life fights are out of the question with that lot...everyone would end up out of breath and needing a gallon of Mountain Dew and that's only from the exertion of changing their clothing into their team uniform before the event starts) then I say go for it and exploit them to get money to do the other thing universities do -- meaningful research for junk like booby cancer cures and that kinda thing. It's a win-win for everyone. The rest of us get their money and they get a sense of belonging that has forever been out of reach for unhealthy people who don't exercise.
 
CreepyUncleGoogle said:
You're always so worried about what I think. It's pretty obvious that you're super insecure about what you do with your time and feel a lot of guilt for doing it.

Also...I don't at all have a problem with this. There are people dumb enough to glorify really obese men that chase a ball around on a 100 yard field and then get all sweaty and pile on top of one another to the point where it takes guys in prison uniform stripes to pull them apart from their romantic embrace. All while people are yelling at them through their TV screens and claiming they're "my team" or saying stuff like "we played a terrible game in Augusta yesterday" even though they never left their couch in Arizona that evening. If that's popular with people, then a university profiting from the equally slobbery nerd types that wanna get in on some kind of competition that feeds their need to beat each other up (virtually since real life fights are out of the question with that lot...everyone would end up out of breath and needing a gallon of Mountain Dew and that's only from the exertion of changing their clothing into their team uniform before the event starts) then I say go for it and exploit them to get money to do the other thing universities do -- meaningful research for junk like booby cancer cures and that kinda thing. It's a win-win for everyone. The rest of us get their money and they get a sense of belonging that has forever been out of reach for unhealthy people who don't exercise.
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I'm not worried, you just entertain me is all.
 
Spidey329 said:
I don't see why not, we call baseball players athletes ..

;)
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btyRK5l.gif
 
CreepyUncleGoogle said:
You're always so worried about what I think. It's pretty obvious that you're super insecure about what you do with your time and feel a lot of guilt for doing it.

Also...I don't at all have a problem with this. There are people dumb enough to glorify really obese men that chase a ball around on a 100 yard field and then get all sweaty and pile on top of one another to the point where it takes guys in prison uniform stripes to pull them apart from their romantic embrace. All while people are yelling at them through their TV screens and claiming they're "my team" or saying stuff like "we played a terrible game in Augusta yesterday" even though they never left their couch in Arizona that evening. If that's popular with people, then a university profiting from the equally slobbery nerd types that wanna get in on some kind of competition that feeds their need to beat each other up (virtually since real life fights are out of the question with that lot...everyone would end up out of breath and needing a gallon of Mountain Dew and that's only from the exertion of changing their clothing into their team uniform before the event starts) then I say go for it and exploit them to get money to do the other thing universities do -- meaningful research for junk like booby cancer cures and that kinda thing. It's a win-win for everyone. The rest of us get their money and they get a sense of belonging that has forever been out of reach for unhealthy people who don't exercise.
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Lost it at mountain dew.
 
Dekoth-E- said:
I'm not worried, you just entertain me is all.
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Soooo, kinda a masochist huh? I did meet one guy once who was all like, "I like having my soft spots poked so I have a reason to be upset." Its cool to be like that and I'm sure there are people out there who would totally love to torment you.
 
Spidey329 said:
It was - just a light hearted jab. Although both are very similar in that you sit around for long periods of time and then occasionally get up for a short walk. I jest of course, we both know that gamers rarely get up.
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Yep, had a friend keel over dead from playing video games to long..I think they called it a coronary emblism.
 
Charlie Hustle said:
If you dont sweat, its not a sport.
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Good thing you aren't in charge of real decisions.

Why do people get so bent out of shape over this? Words get redefined all the time but this one just has that 'murica mentality that you just cant change anything.

Just as long as they have the current pop start singing the anthem at the final call of duty tournament bracket, it is a sport!
 
Moving gamers to a University sanctioned status when competing for cash prizes would be a hilarious middle finger to those competing in NCAA sports, which was just ruled they can't be paid.
 
Darunion said:
Good thing you aren't in charge of real decisions.

Why do people get so bent out of shape over this? Words get redefined all the time but this one just has that 'murica mentality that you just cant change anything.

Just as long as they have the current pop start singing the anthem at the final call of duty tournament bracket, it is a sport!
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The people that say shit like that usually don't play sports, or did once, but are now overweight idiots preaching the same shit over and over.

If it gathers a crowd, and there is competition, it's a sport in my book (generally). It's pretty fucking simple.
 
Darunion said:
Good thing you aren't in charge of real decisions.

Why do people get so bent out of shape over this? Words get redefined all the time but this one just has that 'murica mentality that you just cant change anything.

Just as long as they have the current pop start singing the anthem at the final call of duty tournament bracket, it is a sport!
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I am more than sure that i am in charge of more real decisions in a day, than you do in a month bruh.

Systems administrator


This is a hobby that is being viewed more. Every competition should not be called a sport. Every thing that's in a bracket is not a sport. If thats the case, all of those tecmo bowl tournemants i participated in back in high school, classified me as an athlete. correct? And i didnt have to play football, nor basketball back then. Athletes play sports. Gamers game.
Last i recall, sports is a "hobby" which people view the participants push their body.

"an activity involving physical exertion and skill in which an individual or team competes against another or others for entertainment."

The entertainment part is there. Physical exertion is no where near.
 
Charlie Hustle said:
If you dont sweat, its not a sport.
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I wasn't aware sweat was a guranteed indicator of physical activity. In that case, too many magic the gathering players are now pumping their fists in the air cheering that they're now considered a sport.
 
It's just too subjective honestly. There are those that view video games as art, and those that don't, because they're under the firm belief that art is basically something that's displayed, there's a committee, etc. Bunch of shit going on there.

Same thing with this, even if a sport is technically defined as something involving physical exertion that teams compete in...there'll be the opposite side of the coin where the competition part trumps the physical exertion. Not sure where this'll head.
 
Charlie Hustle said:
I am more than sure that i am in charge of more real decisions in a day, than you do in a month bruh.

Systems administrator


This is a hobby that is being viewed more. Every competition should not be called a sport. Every thing that's in a bracket is not a sport. If thats the case, all of those tecmo bowl tournemants i participated in back in high school, classified me as an athlete. correct? And i didnt have to play football, nor basketball back then. Athletes play sports. Gamers game.
Last i recall, sports is a "hobby" which people view the participants push their body.

"an activity involving physical exertion and skill in which an individual or team competes against another or others for entertainment."

The entertainment part is there. Physical exertion is no where near.
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That is a nice statement, I didn't know people outside of highschool used the word 'bruh', Anyways, you can make up whatever fake title you want in face of the argument so that holds no weight at all.

All the is changing is how the word is used, things like this happen all the time. If that weren't the case then the dictionaries wouldn't need updating every year since their creation. This is just one of those things that gets under the super-fan's skins because it encroaches onto their pride of sports. Who cares what it is called, either way you pay lots of money to watch someone else do something to a degree of skill you as a viewer cannot (i use the word 'you' as a generic statement).
 
Great, so now we give a bunch of DOTA-heads varsity jackets, and let them stumble around drunk, screaming "NERRRRRRDS!" and burning down frat houses right?
 
Chas said:
Great, so now we give a bunch of DOTA-heads varsity jackets, and let them stumble around drunk, screaming "NERRRRRRDS!" and burning down frat houses right?
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People still do this? Glad I'm moving out of the country in the near future. :cool:
 
Darunion said:
That is a nice statement, I didn't know people outside of highschool used the word 'bruh', Anyways, you can make up whatever fake title you want in face of the argument so that holds no weight at all.

All the is changing is how the word is used, things like this happen all the time. If that weren't the case then the dictionaries wouldn't need updating every year since their creation. This is just one of those things that gets under the super-fan's skins because it encroaches onto their pride of sports. Who cares what it is called, either way you pay lots of money to watch someone else do something to a degree of skill you as a viewer cannot (i use the word 'you' as a generic statement).
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I think i been here [H] long enough to not have to "Fake" my title. Do a search in the resume thread (you may have to go back some years) and i believe that one of mine is posted there, and that was before my grad school degree. Also i honestly dont have anything to prove to you as to what i do here at my agency. I'm a lil too old to argue on the internet about things like this (sports or the word "bruh"). I shared my opinion and lets call it that. So can we agree to disagree and move on???
 
Rugby players claim Football isn't a sport. Football players claim baseball isn't a sport. Some claim gaming isn't a sport. The whole world claims curling isn't a sport.... Some claim non-team stuff isn't a sport (boxing, etc.). Or NASCAR (they just turn left... turn left... turn left... turn left....). I like NASCAR.

If it's competitive and can get a crowd to support them, it can be a sport. I don't think it's a very good one, but it can be.
 
Charlie Hustle said:
I think i been here [H] long enough to not have to "Fake" my title. Do a search in the resume thread (you may have to go back some years) and i believe that one of mine is posted there, and that was before my grad school degree. Also i honestly dont have anything to prove to you as to what i do here at my agency. I'm a lil too old to argue on the internet about things like this (sports or the word "bruh"). I shared my opinion and lets call it that. So can we agree to disagree and move on???
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Fair enough I respect that and apologize for my attacks.
 
Ur_Mom said:
Rugby players claim Football isn't a sport. Football players claim baseball isn't a sport. Some claim gaming isn't a sport. The whole world claims curling isn't a sport.... Some claim non-team stuff isn't a sport (boxing, etc.). Or NASCAR (they just turn left... turn left... turn left... turn left....). I like NASCAR.

If it's competitive and can get a crowd to support them, it can be a sport. I don't think it's a very good one, but it can be.
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Agreed. I just want to see Super Mario Bros 3 tournaments. I watched one of the call of duty tournament finals and while i have never seen others play like that, it was rather exciting to watch. I feel like people should experience it once (I hate typical sports but have at least tried to watch them all) before they make judgements. And I don't think twitch streams remotely represent the 'sport' of video gaming.
 
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