ESPN President Says ESports Are Not a Sport

September 08, 2014 8

John Skipper, the president of the US sports network ESPN, shared his thoughts on whether or not eSports can be called a sport, and it's fair to say many gamers won't agree with him.

"It's not a sport, it's a competition," Skipper told Re/Code. "Chess is a competition. Checkers is a competition. Mostly, I'm interested in doing real sports."

These comments are a little bit unusual, especially considering ESPN's success with broadcasting this year's International and the reported plans to branch out further into eSports coverage. Why would ESPN boss choose to alienate the gaming audience while his company is trying to get into the business is anyone's guess.

Thanks, PC Gamer.

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8 Comments

massDNA | Thursday, September 11, 2014 2:44 AM

@Justin Featherston indeed even though gamers don`t do running to win, or lift weights, they exercise their eyes, ears, brains, teaching their arm muscles to response and stuff like that. I still think massive events like the one on picture should be called Esports in general but saying it`s not a sport by definition is not a big deal. Personally i think saying it`s a Competition (IMO it`s a bigger word if talking about gaming) is better than saying it`s a Sport.

Beats2deep | Wednesday, September 10, 2014 11:54 AM

Probably someone has to sweat and get active through athletic exercises to become part of a sport.

Justin Featherston | Tuesday, September 9, 2014 10:59 PM

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=lovinger/040614

If poker is a sport, so is Esports. If you read the definition of a sport, "A specific diversion, usually involving physical exercise and having a set form and body of rules; a game." Notice the word "usually." It means sometimes not.

Paul Desjardins | Tuesday, September 9, 2014 4:45 PM

@ TK : its just as much a sport,
its a mental sport more than anything, but it still is just as much a competition if not a better one than that of baseball or hockey, i mean if intelligence is power, then the brainless braun of physical sports must be its retarded younger cousin.

TK | Tuesday, September 9, 2014 4:08 PM

He's 100% right. Video games are not a sport. Don't kid yourself gamers. You are NOT an athlete. I've played sports and I've enjoyed video games. There is a universe of difference between the two.

Alden Franklin | Tuesday, September 9, 2014 3:20 PM

THAT'S WHY IT'S CALLED AN ESPORT YA NERD!

Daniel Markov Hill | Tuesday, September 9, 2014 3:12 PM

Sport:
"An activity involving physical exertion and skill in which an individual or team competes against another or others for entertainment"
Im pretty sure our hands are doing physical activity matching the said description above.

Obviously if esport isnt a sport, our hands aren't real