In the last few years, much attention has been brought to the controversial topic of eSports by gamers winning millions of dollars in tournaments.

So what are eSports? eSports are basically the professionally organized competition of video games. In recent years, there has been a multitude of eSports that have popped up, including popular games like Overwatch, Super Smash Brothers Melee, League of Legends, Fortnite, and a plethora of others. Players will compete in tournaments either by themselves to represent an organization or with other players as a part of the same organization in order to win prize money.

Why do people care about eSports? The main reasons people care about eSports are pretty similar to those of traditional sports: the competition and the thrill of winning. Many spectators of events such as the Overwatch League, EVO, and Dreamhack watch because they want to see top level play from their favorite video games. 

How eSports players make money is another question that is continuously brought up, similar to traditional athletes who make money from competing and through sponsorships. Another way players make money is through organizations and teams like Team Liquid, Panda Global, and several others, which scout out top players and pay them to play for their teams. 

In an article by CNN talking about the amount of money available for those involved it states, “Tournaments can boast millions of dollars in prize money, which is typically split between the players on the winning teams. That means the world’s very tip-top players can easily earn seven figures in a year. Teams and event organizers also benefit from tickets sales for these competitions.” 

With eSports only managing to further gain more attention it has become hard to ignore controversy if they’re truly considered sports or not and with all the events going on surrounding them. If they’re now being aired on television channels like ESPN, it’s good to understand what all of the sudden interest in the topic is about and why people are just suddenly caring about eSports.