The video game industry continues to grow year after year, raking in billions in profits from hardcore players and casual fans alike. The industry has used a good portion of this money to try to make eSports a powerhouse in America like it is in other countries. Despite the huge accomplishments eSports have made in viewerships, the genre has yet to be fully accepted.
Part of the problem is that eSports is still seen as a bit of a joke to many people, even those that play the games these competitions are based on. Is eSports just not conducive to the American way of life? Or is the video game industry going about it all wrong?
It's a Big Club and You Ain't In It
To understand the biggest hurdle to eSports making a breakthrough in the US, you have to recognize the biggest barrier they face: actual sports. The very first thing that a lot of people say when presented with the idea of "eSports" is to say something about how it's not really sports, the players just sit there. This is where those in the know would point out that playing video games at a professional level takes an extremely high level of dexterity and skill, combined with an intense focus, all while dealing with stress levels that are borderline unhealthy. Those people would be completely right, but with the word sports is seen so synonymously with football or basketball or baseball that it's extremely hard to make the case (for many people) that eSports deserve to be in the same category. There is a whole LOT of semantics in discussions like these, and unfortunately, it's something that has to be addressed and recognized as a barrier to getting new viewers, and getting some acceptance into mainstream culture.
So it's too late to change the name to avoid this silly semantic battle, but it's not too late to have eSports teams stop acting like they are mainstream teams. These teams should distance themselves from the image of sports teams and embrace the culture they come from; ditch the jerseys right away and adopt more casual uniforms to showcase that these are gamers and not athletes. You're never going to convince football fans that eSports is another sport to watch, but you can convince them that eSports is a bunch of pro gamers playing that fan's favorite video game. The distinction may seem trivial, but ask anyone what they think about eSports and it's guaranteed that this subject comes up first.
Acceptance
The viewership numbers for eSports events are exploding, and the genre is growing, so much so that they even show these events on major sports networks like ESPN. Still, eSports is not really taken seriously but most people. Part of that comes from video games still being a hobby that is looked down upon by the mainstream.
For years the image of a grown man living in his parent's basement is whats conjured when someone mentions the word "gamer." Gaming has become much more commonplace in recent years, but somehow that stereotype still survives. It's ok to casually play video games now, as almost everyone has a console these days. But to spend a significant amount of one's time on games is still taboo, and to make a living playing games is even more risque.
It wasn't that long ago that things like the X-Games were seen as passing fads, and now they have expanded and are accepted by the mainstream. It could be that the older generation will eventually fade out, and the ones that have grown up with video games become the new mainstream and with that, eSports can flourish.
eSports will have to continue to work towards killing that bias before it will be fully accepted by the public at large, and then one day maybe we will all be gathered around to watch the million-dollar commercials for the League of Legends World Championship instead of the SuperBowl.