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JonathanWoodcock
Mr.Conrad
ERWC
April30th,2016
CouldEsportsbeaHighSchoolSport?
Esportshasriseninpopularitythispastyearorsoanditbegsthequestion,coulditbecomea
highschoolsport?CollegeshavealreadystartedleaguesliketheuLoLCampusleagueforLeagueof
Legends,agamemadebyRiotGamesthatisoneofthecoupleofgamesleadingtheesportsworld.Alot
ofpeoplestillrefusetobelievethat
professionalgamingcouldevenbe
consideredasportbeforeevenconsideringit
inhighschool,butitisofgrowing
popularitywiththeyoungergeneration.
esportsisbecomingabigbusinessfor
moneyandalotofpeoplehavetakennotice
tothis.Havingesportsinhighschools
wouldbringmoreawarenesstothesport,provideanextracurricularactivityforpeoplethatnormally
wouldntparticipateinone,andwouldbridgeagapbetweencollegeesports.
Esportshasbecomeverypopularinthelastfewyears,aswasmentionedbefore,buthow
popularhasitreallygotten?Well,the2015LeagueofLegendsFinalsgamereached14millionviewers
whichwasthesameamountofviewersforthe2015MLBWorldSeriesfinalgameaverageacrossallfive
baseballgamesandwelloverthe5millionviewersaverageforthe2015NHLStanleyCupfinal
(accordingtoLoLesportsandESPN).ThisshowshoweSportsasawholeisontheriseevenifit
currentlyisnotasbigasthemajorsportsintheworld.Esportsisdifferentfromtraditionalsportsinhow

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therearemultiplegameswithinthesport,forexampleCS:GO,LoL,DOTA2,SC2,CoD,Hearthstone,
andthelistgoeson.Eachgamegetsdifferentamountofviewsbecausetheproscenesforthesegames
differinpopularity.Thisaddsacomplicationtohighschoolesportsbecausedifferentpeopleexcelat
differentgames.ESPNspresidentJohn
Skipperoncesaidthatesportsisnota
sportandthathewasonlyinterested
indoingrealsports,butasofJanuary
of2016,ESPNhasstartedcovering
esportsnewswithapageontheir
website.InanarticleontheLosAngeles
Timeswebsitetitled,
ESPN.comto
coveresportswithsamerigorasitdoesthebigleagues
,theauthordiscusseshowesports
competitionshavesurgedintoa$500millionglobalindsutryoverthelastfewyears.DOTA2isknown
forbeingoneoftheleadersofthiswiththeirworldtournament,TheInternational.The2015International
endedwitha18milliondollarprizepoolwith16millionbeingcontributedfromthecommunity,
accordingtoTheInternationalDota2PrizePoolTracker.Thismeansthatthefirstplaceteam,Evil
Geniuses,tookhome6milliondollars.Thissportisreallygrowingandhighschoolswouldbenefitfrom
havingitasasport.
Highschoolsalwaystalkaboutbeingengagedatschoolandalotofgamerswouldratherbeat
homeplayingandimprovingthanatschool.Makingesportsahighschoolsportwouldhelpthesekids
engageinanextracurricularactivitythattheyenjoyandbecomemoreofapartintheschool.Esports
alsoopensthedoorforotheropportunitiestoworkinthebusiness.Duringprofessionalgames,thereisa
lotofbehindthescenesworkthatgoesintotheproductionofthesegamesandhavingthepossibilityof
streamingthehighschoolmatchesonlineopensthedoorforexperienceforkidslookingtodothat.These

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jobsincluderunningthespectatorcamerasforthegame,castingthegames,orjustsettingupthematches.
Havingthegamesstreamedonlinealso
opensmoreroomforthesporttogrow
withpeoplethatwouldntnormallywatch
thegamesinthattheycouldwatchtheir
friendplayingagainstarivalschool
online.Castingcanbeadifficultjoband
requiresalotofpracticeandalotofwork.
PaulRedeyeChaloner,whodidalotofcastingforESLandGfinity,saidthathewouldspend4060
hourspreparingforabigtournament.Thisisbecausethecastershavethejobofentertainingtheviewers
withdifferentstatsandthejobofdescribingthegamebeingplayedwhichrequiresalotofprior
knowledge.Gettingthisexperienceinhighschoolcouldhelpopenjobopportunitiesforthesestudentsto
eventuallybecomecastersintheproscenesfordifferentgames.
Alotofcollegeshavebeguntorecognisethatesportsisagrowingindustry.LeagueofLegends
hasstarteditsowncollegeleagueknownasuLoLCampusSeries.Alotofthesecollegeshavebegunto
offerscholarshipstoplayerstoplayattheircollege.TheHeroesoftheDormtournament,acollege
tournamentforagamecalledHeroesoftheStorm,wasrecentlyheldandawardedthewinningteamto
havetheircollegetuitionfullypaidfor.Havingesportsinhighschoolwouldhelpthesecollegeslookfor
playerstoplayfortheirschoolsratherthanthembeingfoundonlinethroughthegame.Thiscould
eventuallycreateatypeofscoutingsysteminhighschoolforesportsliketraditionalsportscurrently
have.However,RiotGames,theownersofLeagueofLegends,haveexpressedinanarticleon
ESPN.comtitled,
Makingvarsity:Collegiateesportsprimedforgrowthandexposure
,thattheyalso
viewtheCampusSeriesasanindependentviewingexperienceforfans,separatefromtheLCS.Likewith
basketballsomebasketballfansfollowtheNBA,othersfollowingtheNCAAandalotofbasketball

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fansfollowboth.Thatshow[they]seetheuLoLCampusSeriesandtheLCS.Thiscreatesdifferent
optionsforstudentswhoparticipateinhighschoolesportsinthattheycouldplayforacollegeteam,play
foralowerdivisionteamforexperience,orevenplayforatopproteam.Itcreatesahealthygrowing
platformfortheseplayerstogainmatchexperienceandpossiblyacareerintheindustry.
Itseemsasnodoubtthatesportsisdefinitelygrowinginpopularityandbringingothergroups
alongwithit.TBSisplanningtolaunchan
esportsshowthatshowcasesdifferentplayers
anddifferenteventsstartingwith
Counterstrike.Esportswouldbeahealthy
additiontocurrenthighschoolsportsandaddto
thegrowingpopularityofthesport.Itpavesthe
wayforcareersforstudentsinvariouspositions
otherthanbeingaplayerandopensdoorsfor
morepeopletoviewesports.

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WorksCited
"BehindtheMic."
DOTABUFF.
12Feb.2016.Web.30April2016.
Dave,Paresh."ESPN.comtoCoverEsportswithSame'rigor'asItDoestheBigLeagues."
Los
AngelesTimes
.LosAngelesTimes,14Jan.2016.Web.30April2016.
Grubb,Jeff."WhyESPNIsFinallyGettingSeriousAboutesports."
VentureBeat
.VentureBeat,14
Jan.2016.Web.30April2016.
"TheInternational2015."
Dota2PrizePoolTracker
.Web.30April2016.
Lam,Kien."MakingVarsity:CollegiateEsportsPrimedforGrowthandExposure."
ESPN.
ESPN
InternetVentures,28Apr.2016.Web.30April2016.
"LoLEsports."
LoLEsports
.RiotGames,09Dec.2015.Web.30April2016.