Once again, eSports it's expanding its viewership and it's viewers. Yesterday, Yahoo announced it's expansion into the gaming world when it debuted Yahoo eSports. The editorial staff will be creating unique video content and in-depth interviews of popular eSports gamers. The actual eSports site will show players rankings, depending on the game, as well as calendars for when certain events are happening. ESPN did something similar not too long ago, and it seems like the rest of the world is finally considering video games a "sport" in a way. There will be weekly League of Legends coverage, as well as Heroes of the Storm and CS:GO coverage. Some of the other games that will be broadcasted on Yahoo eSports will be Dota 2, Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft and Street Fighter V. Executive Bob Condor had this to say about the recent edition:
"We're approaching our coverage of Esports with the same tenacity and professionalism we always have with Yahoo Sports, News, and Finance. Coupled with our experience in building great products, we've gone out and assembled an experienced and innovative content team that will cover Esports from every angle."
eSports overall has grown since it first became a thing in the late 1980's. Gaming nerds everywhere flocked to the nearest arcade station to beat their friends high score in a game of Pacman or Space Invaders. Fast forward twenty-five years later, and those same gaming nerds are still hammering away at a Call of Duty game or some League of Legends. The World Cyber Games and the Electronic Sports World Cup also formed during this time, which gave rise and meaning to Esports as a whole. MLG, also dubbed Major League Gaming, formed during 2002 and is now the largest and most successful Esports league in the world. It was also the first ever tournament to be televised, with Halo 2 being shown on one of the biggest networks to date, USA Today.
Overall, eSports is reaching more and people, but at a slow rate. The future remains bright for MLG, however as bigger companies decide to pick up the coverage. Yahoo and ESPN are just the start of something bigger and better for not only the company, but the players and teams as well. Prizes will get bigger and bigger for tournaments, the anticipation of watching a game of League of Legends or Call of Duty will grow, and it will reach a much bigger audience. Who knows, this could very well surpass the World Series of Poker later on down the road.
What do you guys think about this recent addition? Will you enjoy being able to watch your favorite players in multiple places now?
