Among 14-21 Year Olds, eSports Are About As Popular To Watch As Football

[Steve_OS]

The times, they are a changing. In partnership with the Washington Post, the UMass Lowell Center...

Written By: Chris Sanner

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[MelR2000]

Well so much for mankind.  : )

[drewst18]

I'm a big fan of eSports, but when I talk about eSports I do not think of sports games.

I'm sure when this study was conducted they were looking at csgo/LoL/Dota which attract millions of viewers for a single match during their top tournaments.  

When it comes to actual sports vs their eSports (Madden to NFL)  counterpart I don't think it is even remotely close.  I think eSports will thrive in other genres but sports it will fall behind.  If will always be more exciting to watch the real thing. 

[Junior Moe]

Re: Among 14-21 Year Olds, eSports Are About As Popular To Watch As Football

Not a surprise. My 8 year old doesn't even watch TV anymore. He watches DanTDM and Jelly and other YouTubers playing games. He's not into sports. But if and when he does get into them I know how he's going to consume it. Its where we are now. I personally don't see anything wrong with it.

[IgotSyphillis]

Yeah but I don't think sports games will be popular e-sports.  E-sports in non-sport games are popular cause it's the only way to watch that game being played. I don't see why people who like watching basketball would flock to watching video game basketball when watching real basketball is a better option. 

[Golfsprince]

Re: Among 14-21 Year Olds, eSports Are About As Popular To Watch As Football

The pattern I see: NBA will overtake the NFL, and then eventually, eSports will overtake both. Soccer/football will be king for a very long time, but eSports will be in second. It has the global, cultural appeal like soccer has.

[creator2700]

Eh, 5 year-old me would have rather watched Blues Clues than football, 12 year-old me would have rather been watching Pokemon than football, 16 year-old me would have rather been watching Youtubers / playing video games than football, and here I am, watching multiple games each Sunday during the season, not caring for e-sports whatsoever.  I don't see today's kids watching esports into their 40s.  We grow out of our interests in a lot of things, and I think esports is just another instance of that.  It's never going to "take over" any real sport,.

[GlennN]

Re: Among 14-21 Year Olds, eSports Are About As Popular To Watch As Football

Eh, 5 year-old me would have rather watched Blues Clues than football, 12 year-old me would have rather been watching Pokemon than football, 16 year-old me would have rather been watching Youtubers / playing video games than football, and here I am, watching multiple games each Sunday during the season, not caring for e-sports whatsoever.* I don't see today's kids watching esports into their 40s.* We grow out of our interests in a lot of things, and I think esports is just another instance of that.* It's never going to "take over" any real sport,.

I hope you are right. I worry about our sporting options in the future. I seem to be far behind the curve, in that I am interested in football, baseball and hockey - two sports declining in popularity and one that never had it. While I do not understand the fun in watching eSports (or in watching any people play videogames), I also do not see the fun in watching golf, bowling, tennis, soccer, etc.

[scottyp180]

Re: Among 14-21 Year Olds, eSports Are About As Popular To Watch As Football

I don't follow e-sports so I don't know for sure but it seems like there aren't seasons like you see in traditional sports (if I am wrong please correct me). Every time I hear of an e-sports event it's some sort of tournament or championship. I wonder if that is a big part of the appeal. With other sports you need to follow a team through an entire season, which takes months, just to get to the playoffs when games really matter and things get exciting. With esports it seems like every match or event is important.

The other aspect is that most esports games are fast paced, especially compared to traditional sports. Most sporting events (football, basketball, hockey, soccer, etc) are 2+ hour affairs for just one game. Dont think there are many events at esports that take 2 hours for one match. Plus the actual games themselves are usually fast paced and full of action. Where as most sports can be slow or boring at times.

For these reasons I can see why 14-21 year olds might prefer E-sports over real sports.

[AgustusM]

Nothing gets my "getoff my lawn" going more than "e-sports" I have played and
coached "real" sports for over 40 years. I love playing video games,
but the idea of watching other people play video games is beyond my
comprehension. Having said that, I do know from watching my own kids that this
is very real. My oldest (20) will watch sports with me on TV. My youngest (12)
could care less about watching a game on TV (and he plays football, basketball,
baseball and soccer) but he only knows like 10 pro athletes (at his age I knew
ALL of them) but when overwatch TV started he watched for days and told me
endless stories about the "players" that I had to pretend to listen
to. No doubt there is a future in this, but it really makes no sense to me.