Opinion: Why ‘esports’ are the future of Australian sport

THEY’RE furious, fast-paced, and fun to watch: this why professional video gaming is the future of Australian sport.

BATHED in light before wall-to-wall screens at the Overwatch World Cup Qualifier in Sydney last year, I felt real, electric pride as our Aussies walked on stage.

As someone who has never really followed traditional sport, it was an exciting day for me. I was tapping into something that had previously seemed foreign: sport.

Finally, here was a game I understood. Here was a game I could follow. My eyes lit up with explosions of colour as the frenzied match began and rapidly erupted into chaos.

It seems almost too good to be true. Professional gamer? It’s the stuff of Willy Wonka-like childhood dreams.

In reality, few are fast enough, sharp enough, and dedicated enough to really ‘make it’ as a pro esports competitor. That is, being part of an elite team of gamers that is represented, managed, and sponsored like any other traditional sports team.

The rise of esports globally seems to be happening at breakneck pace, and yet ask any passer-by on the street if they’re familiar with ‘esports’ and they may give you a blank look.

Broadly, gaming still carries the unsavoury stigma of the pale, anti-social teenager in the eerie glow of a computer monitor as the real world passes them by.

Stephanie "Hex" Bendixsen says gaming is the future of sports. Picture: Channel 7

And, sure, these are not ‘athletes’ in the traditional sense. Perhaps that is why they struggle to garner the same respect as our beloved rugby sporting heroes ... for now.

But, believe it or not, esports competitors live out a very similar routine. They have coaches, managers, nutritionists, sports psychologists to help them work together more efficiently as a team. They train on a schedule, undergo specific reflex-based training. This is serious business.

And it should be. There is serious money to be won. The total prize pool for the Dota 2 International in 2017 was nearly $US25 million (A$31.5 million), and this is for a game that is free to play.

So, why this sudden obsession with watching other people play video games? It’s part of larger a cultural shift. Better internet access means a broader range of the population can engage in something social and challenging online.

It’s fast, it’s thrilling, and anyone can play from the comfort of their own home. Thus, professional online gaming has the same appeal to a young gamer as the Ashes did to a young kid with a cricket bat.

This means the sporting industry is shifting, too. There has been a significant decline in interest in traditional sports among younger generations. Major sports teams have cottoned on and are madly buying-up esports teams to carry the brand through as the future of sport becomes digital.

And while we’re certainly not waving goodbye to traditional sport any time soon, with esports due to be included in the Olympics come 2024, it’s about time the rest of the world stood up and bathed in the electric glow. After all, the future of sport is seriously bright.

Stephanie Bendixsen is a video game critic, author and television presenter on 7mate’s screenPLAY, which returns to 7mate on February 23.