[Erton Toner]

There's no doubt esports are becoming bigger and represent a great opportunity for revenue. However, whether they should be considered as a real sport seems to remain unanswered. The negative answer would be to deem them as something separate due to the lack of physical activity in gaming (besides the obvious handwork). On the other hand, chess seems to be regarded as a sport (not an Olympic one, but still) although it could even be considered to be less physically demanding than esports.
What are your thoughts on this?

[DistantParticles]

If chess is considered a sport then why can't esports be? In esports you would feel much more pressure in a game and sweat harder than people in chess.

[nutthrowaway277]

eSports biggest issue is overcoming the perception that anyone can jump in and do it.  It actually takes a lot of skill to make it to the top and some people aren't cut out to do it.  Just like anyone can throw a ball, however you need the mechanics, body type and mentally to be really great at it.  I believe that they are sports and should be treated that way, but it will be hard to overcome some peoples thoughts on the subject and thats the major barrier.

[rlaeodhr123]

it is not equal, but the market considers it as sports..Think about the kids, they might value Fortnite more than the NFL..

[tonyazamar28]

well in my opinion honestly no, they’re 2 very different activities

[ElGrandeBichou]

NEVER.  Brain sports are not equal to physical sports if esports are sports then being a computer scientist at spacex is a sport or doing research on the covid19 is a sport too.

[ksgdfsHHHLsnaiskh]

You make a good point.  Games like pool, snooker, darts although obviously more dynamic than chess involve very little fitness or energy but are considered sports, so on this logic, why not e-sports.

[spammingf]

There's huge potential. It will happen eventually I think.

Esports is such a huge and fast growing industry. Think about all the kids these days that play fortnite and minecraft. Gaming is actually cool now.

They all grow up watching Ninja and Pokimane. When they are all adults, it's going to be mainstream

[Ty Moses]

Personally, I think not. They're too fundamentally different to be considered equal for me

[Adammason11]

I think it depends on what you consider a sport. If you think it requires people to be physically doing something than no, but if you think it means any type of 1:1 or team
Competition in a dynamic setting than yeah it is.

[Youngadex10]

CAPITAL ..NO

[knechtderhrkj123]

Yes if chess player lose 10k kcal it would be like doing 10 workouts in a row

[topjej]

for sure they work just as hard as traditional "athletes"

[Thomas Bageldash]

For sure, they use a different set of athletic abilities but they are still athletes

[Johnson9900]

I like the concept of esports but I don’t think they should be payed as much

[dede gaga]

sports are about competition not exercise. the problem with esports imo is that they are privately owned

[deadjewelry]

Esports has a big issue with generating income. Seems unsustainable if you ask me.

[Djbobbykhaled111]

Yeah maybe if chess is sports then nothing wrong with fortnite lol

[Horneymonkey1]

Absolutely not!!