For the first time in history, ESPN 2 broadcasted the annual fighting EVO championship on live television. While many of us reveled at this achievement, other did not take it so well.
It’s hard to believe that even in the year 2016 (especially with all the Pokemon GO hype) video games aren’t taken seriously, let alone as a competitive sport. Here are some examples:
@espn Video Games are not a sport. You gaming virgins, should go outside and play a real sport.
— ㅤㅤㅤ (@primecurry) July 18, 2016
.@espn hey this is cool and all but hear us out: show more lacrosse instead of competitive video gaming. that is not very sports
— UGA Men’s Lacrosse (@ugalax) July 18, 2016
@espn Please never again
— Evan Moore (@Iam_epmXI) July 18, 2016
@espn I deleted ESPN from my bookmarks, I’ll go elsewhere for sports news, no wonder talent keeps leaving, you now show video games! Adios!
— Kama’aina Armed (@kamaainaarmed) July 18, 2016
.@espn Wait… Since when is playing a video game a sport? Is this going to be on sportscenter? What is going on. pic.twitter.com/ZmqROeaMyT
— The Table of Truth (@thetableoftruth) July 18, 2016
So I turned ESPN2 on to watch some sports, and what do I see? A bunch of kids that haven’t been bullied enough at school playing video games
— Valentin Lionel (@dickoak) July 18, 2016
Ow, the edge. Last one seems too obvious to be real honestly.
It’s unsure at this stage if ESPN will continue this trend, but I doubt they’d stop. The overall reception was quite positive. As for the negativity I’d imagine it would subside. A lot of people are just not used to it so it’s jut going to take a bit adjusting.
I’m very happy that ESPN2 took a risk by showing EVO. I hope that despite these comments, that it did well for them.
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I’m sure they realized there will be some backlash. Overall the feedback was great so fingers crossed they do it again.
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I’m pretty sure ESPN2 also shows the Scripps National Spelling Bee, and I haven’t heard complaints about that… Then again, I haven’t looked for complaints.
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I think it was great! Wish they would have shown mortal combat too. Just to let you know, I’m a 73 year old grandmother!! I hope it’s on next year.
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Angry jocks who obviously want to see the same old same old crap on TV.
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Video games aren’t a sport. Just like checkers or chess isn’t a sport. A sport requires the combination of both physical and mental. I have been gaming since I was born and even when getting highly competitive in games, I have never thought of it as a sport. Some things can be competitive without being a sport.
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Competitive gaming requires a lot of training and practice in order to build talent, which includes both mentally and physically. Even if it’s just moving fingers, that still counts as physical as demonstrated here: https://youtu.be/zmYhX8fjmo8?t=12
It has also now been widely accepted as eSports. Whether you agree or not this has become the general perception which I tend to agree with.
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Televising EVO was a good way for ESPN to test the waters on nationally broadcasting esports. From other sources I’ve read, it got a fair amount of viewers to be considered a successful broadcast. Kudos to to ESPN for expanding their horizons. It would be cool to see more of this in the future. There will probably eventually be a channel dedicated to esports in America one day as there are in other countries.
BTW, Valentin Lionel shouldn’t be making light of bullying. It’s a serious issue.
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