ESPN: Video Games…Now officially a sport.

| January 14, 2008 More

ESPN, the “worldwide leader of sports” has decided to give some attention to gamers everywhere. From Major League Gaming’s website (MLG),

ESPN will serve as a primary outlet for news about MLG, providing extensive digital coverage of MLG’s 2008 Pro Circuit Competitions, including exclusive streamed matches, pro player interviews, and scores and stats. Additionally, MLG will host ESPN co-branded online video game tournaments.

ESPN will be on site at each of the 2008 MLG Pro Circuit Competitions, reporting news from its own coverage booth for various ESPN programs and platforms, including ESPN360.com, ESPN’s signature broadband sports network.

Official Logo of the MLG (from MLGpro.com)You know, its good to see ESPN showing video games some love…I mean, they show love to a lot of other fringe sports (strongest man, lumberjack events, pool competitons, etc.) so why not video games? I would be willing to bet that more people are playing X-Box 360 than participating in a hot dog eating contest anyway (although we all love Joey Chestnutt, right?)

Major League Gaming was started in 2002, and it is North America’s first professional gaming league. The league, which is powered by X-Box 360, already has had some of their competitions broadcasted on television and through mobile distribution, but obviously, regular availability through ESPN’s broadband platform and their website is a big step up for Major League Gaming.

It will certainly be interesting to see what happens with ESPN and MLG’s relationship (it appears that the contract is presently just for the 2008 gaming season), as this year progresses. It will also be interesting to see what happens with MLG in general now that they have this deal under their belt. Will the exposure lead to licensing and endorsement deals for some of their more prominent stars? Will video game pro’s have “sports agents” in the future?  Will the format wars (HD-DVD vs. Blu-Ray) have any effect on the future of the league (as I said, the league is currently powered by X-Box 360)? Only time will tell.

Major League Gaming: A historic day for major league gaming

Category: Fringe Sports

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  1. SportsAgentBlog.com - I Want to be a Sports Agent » Blog Archive » ESPN Knows This Is No Game | January 18, 2008
  2. Gen Drebery','deber@gmail.com','','63.2.12.45','2008-01-25 06:41:26','2008-01-25 06:41:26','','0','Internet Explorer','comment','0','0'),('0', '', '', '', '', '2008-01-26 06:41:26', '2008-01-26 06:41:26', '', 'spam', '', 'comment', '0','0' ) /* | January 25, 2008
  1. StanHayes says:
    January 15, 2008 at 12:33 pm

    The only professional sports league where you can’t get laid.

  2. Sportsattitude says:
    January 15, 2008 at 8:36 pm

    I love StanHayes’ remark. Priceless.

  3. David Court says:
    January 16, 2008 at 1:58 am

    hmm.. all you need is some cheerleaders with “Penny Arcade” tank tops on the sidelines and we’re set to call this a sport.

    Stan, if the gaming geeks get paid enough to win, they might just stand a chance to get laid =P Remember… “you can lose a lot of money chasing women, but you’ll never lose women chasing money”

    David Court’s last blog post..Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders February Appearances

  4. Shelia says:
    January 16, 2008 at 2:45 pm

    Hello Emmett, great blog!

    Stan and David, I’d say shame on you guys if it weren’t the truth.

    Shelia’s last blog post..Tsonga and Serena Rockin’ The House In Round 2

  5. TheTomMan says:
    April 11, 2008 at 1:00 am

    Humph, you’ve changed my mind! Your arguments are convincing indeed. Despite I’m not a person who is easy to be convinced.

  6. Mike says:
    September 7, 2009 at 10:41 pm

    Welcome to the year 2008, where teamwork based games even digital ones are considered sports.

    One side of me says hey they get paid to play, they get contracts and have sponsors and it’s even on ESPN it must be a sport.

    Ok so it’s not that physical, but it is a team based game, with paid proffesionals and contracts. It is broadcast on ESPN. It does require large amounts of both skill and natural ability.

    Not a believer? Go to http://www.mlgpro.com check out the ESPN top ten for it, then get on Xbox Live and try the MLG playlist for Halo 3.

    - T4ct1cs

    43 Colonel (Halo 3)
    2,000 plus ranked Games
    43 Lone wolves
    43 Team Doubles
    26 MLG

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