Is Professional Gaming a Sport?

We’re only two weeks away from the Major League Gaming Pro Circuit National Championship in Las Vegas, NV.

The winner is looking at six figures in prize money and the best attainable bragging rights.

There’s money, fame, national titles and groupies. Sounds like what we’d expect from professional sports. But the explosion of attention on professional gaming revives the debate- will it ever be a sport?

In January this year, ESPN signed a multi-million dollar contract with MLG to cover the 2008 circuit. ESPN also hosts the Madden Challenge, and had a column about professional gaming on its Page 2 last fall.

But before you start shouting victory, ESPN also shows poker competitions, the Scripps National Spelling Bee and Scrabble.

ESPN is the mainstream standard. It’s a source for near comprehensive sports coverage. But ESPN started as the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network, and gaming still falls solely in that E category.

I recognize the amount of skill and hard work that goes into each championship match of Halo 3. It takes hand-eye coordination, intelligence, speed, strategy and the dedication to practice until you reach the top of your game—all of which are required in standard, physical sports.

Major League Gaming players Shockwave and Gandhi at the 2007 Pro Circuit.

In football, for example. Maybe it’s the same amount of coordination. Maybe it’s just as many hours of grueling practice. But no one has to play Halo while running a ball down field, avoiding 400-pound men that want to stop you. Though I’m not opposed to the idea.

A “sport” implies a level of physical effort that’s not present in gaming. It’s a professional hobby, and that definition shouldn’t diminish the league or its players.

Maybe we’re just all arguing over semantics, and should let the linguists decide.

If you want to call gaming a sport, go for it. Really. At the end of the day, it’s going to come down to personal opinion. Just recognize that if you accept gaming as a sport, you have to accept poker, chess, scrabble, golf, bowling and ice dancing.

I can’t wait for the day when someone founds a video game network to broadcast gamers and live game footage 24-hours a day. I promise now I’d sign up for the most expensive and expanded package I can get.

I’m thrilled with the success of MLG, and proud to see my hobby get its own set of idols. I want the best for the league and professional gamers, but I’m just not ready to call it a sport.