Can also be done without sturdy shoes
E-sports events are also getting going again after the corona break. It was recently announced that The International 2022 will be held in Singapore in October. The online game »Dota 2« has been played at the international tournaments since 2011. Two teams of five try to destroy the opponent’s headquarters. Or something like that. More than 40 million US dollars in prize money were paid out last year. This year there will be even more. Millions of people watch the spectacle enthusiastically.
But is eSports a sport at all? The debate has been around since the 1980s when computer game pioneers Atari first organized competitions. Today, however, it is coming to a head as e-sports are becoming more popular and struggling for recognition. It’s not just about prestige, it’s also about money. Recognition as a sport by the German Olympic Sports Confederation (DOSB) gives clubs and organizers tax breaks and subsidies. But so far the DOSB is reluctant. It was not until March of this year that he stated in an expert opinion that a type of sport “was specified in the traditional sense of physicality requirements by many years of case law”. E-sports do not meet these requirements.
The e-athletes don’t let that sit on them. They point to the importance of hand-eye coordination and quick reactions, as well as a high heart rate and sweat, pertinent evidence of hard physical work. This would of course make the Eurovision Song Contest even more of a sporting competition. And somehow you don’t want to take away the well-trained athletes from e-athletes. Successful Counter Strike player Emil “HeatoN” Christensen of the Ninjas in Pajamas clan (team) didn’t publicize his cause when he became the first esports player in 2017 on the Swedish version of TV game show Heroes Eternal allowed to appear in such a format. He had no chance against the competition of swimmers, martial artists and ice hockey players and was allowed to go home first.
But is sport even defined by physical activity? The dictionaries do not give a clear answer. The Duden is on the side of the DOSB. He defines sport as “physical activity practiced according to certain rules for the joy of movement and play, for physical training”. One of the most popular online dictionaries, wordmeaning.info, presents itself more openly, where sport is defined as »intensive physical and/or mental activity with the requirement to perform«. So e-sports would also fall under this – just like bridge, sudoku or chess. For the latter, there is the category of brain teasers, which can only be used for strategically demanding computer games. The complications don’t end there. Because even with recognized sports such as darts, billiards or table football, the physical performance component is not the decisive one.
Not surprisingly, the global perception of eSports varies widely. While it is recognized as a sport in many Asian countries, including China, most European countries share the DOSB’s view. However, esports enthusiasts like the editors of ingame.de warn: »Germany is missing the next trend!« One might think that the definition of sport shouldn’t depend on trends, but that might be thinking too fundamentally. There is a lot at stake. In total, more than one billion US dollars in prize money has already been paid out at e-sports events. The Danish “Dota 2” player Johan “N0tail” Sundstein collected seven million of them.
Who does not miss the trend in Germany is the Bundesliga. In 2015, VfL Wolfsburg was the first Bundesliga club to field its own team in e-football tournaments. Only seven years later, in May of this year, the German Football League (DFL) decided that from the 2023/24 season every club in the 1st and 2nd Bundesliga must provide an e-sports team. (Which must be horrible for the former Bayern President Uli Hoeneß – he personally prevented the establishment of an FCB e-sports team.)
E-sports are also becoming more and more socially acceptable internationally. If the World Cyber Games or the Electronic Sports World Cup were created by organizers who have nothing to do with official sports federations, there will be e-sports demonstration competitions at this year’s Commonwealth Games. They could then appear in the official program in 2026. The selected games, namely “Dota 2”, “E-Football” and “Rocket League”, show that the old separation between sports simulation games (soccer, tennis, boxing, etc. on the computer) and original computer games has given way to a contemporary interpretation of the E -Sports is no longer fair. It’s not the on-screen broadcast of a sport that defines e-sports, it’s the on-screen competition itself.
Where e-athletes are in no way inferior to the heroes of the track and cycle tracks is the world of doping. Amphetamines and drugs like Ritalin calm the nerves and improve concentration, while energy drinks make night-long marathon games easier. Relevant companies target their marketing specifically at e-athletes. There are also other problems. For years, women have complained about the pronounced sexism in e-sports, which is fueled not least by the anonymity of online comments. No wonder few women appear on the big stage, even though the esports community likes to promote inclusivity. Jordan’s Mira “Ephey” Riyadh became the first woman ever to compete in an international tournament in 2021.
The dispute over e-sports is also a bit of a culture war. There are caveats that have been around for a long time. Should computer games that focus on killing be part of sports funding? Don’t people sit far too much in front of the screen? Are computer games addictive? These worries are not shared at the renowned German Sport University in Cologne. The website esportwissen.de, initiated by the sports university, describes e-sports as a »future sport that breaks with the old understanding of sport and allows new approaches«. That sounds good, but it wouldn’t be the first time that apparent progressiveness has been used as a cover for opening up new markets. It is perhaps no coincidence that in the political party landscape, the FDP in particular stands out as a promoter of e-sports.
A friend once said that a game becomes a sport when there is money to be made from it. He might be right.
