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Video games are now a legitimate high school sport

JBeezYBabY

Mr. Righteous
Apparently, Uncle JBeezY got caught up on his news from yesterday and heard this news over radio. Its official, kids. Peep the article below ;)

Atlanta (CNN Business)Competitive video game playing, also known as esports, is now a high school varsity sport in eight states.

It began with Connecticut, Georgia, Kentucky, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island in the fall of 2018. A few months later, the National Federation of State High School Associations said Alabama, Mississippi and Texas Charter schools have joined the mix.
CNN was recently invited to see to a competition in Georgia between North Atlanta High School and Grady High School, also in Atlanta, at the city's newest esports arena. The venue opened in February as part of the Johnson STEM Activity Center.
The global esports market is expected to generate more than $1 billion in 2019, according to research firm Newzoo. It also estimates the esports audience will reach 454 million this year.


Two teams of students with six players each faced off in a video game game called "Smite," one of the three high-school-sanctioned esport games, in which they battle each other as gods and other mythological characters.

According to Brian Prokes, the center's executive director, the facility's goal is to level the playing field and give anybody an opportunity to compete.
"If there are two schools that don't have the facilities to host a five-on-five tournament, we are here for them," he said.
The regular esports season runs through the end of April, with playoffs and finals starting in May.



An esports match between North Atlanta High School and Grady High School.

A new career pipeline
There was a time not too long ago when playing video games for a living was a pipe dream. Now, some players are supporting their entire families from it and students are considering it a tangible career goal. Pro players can make hundreds of thousands of dollars a year, and compete for millions of dollars in prizes.
"It is nuts to me, in a good way," said Benjamin Lupo, otherwise known in the gaming community as "Dr. Lupo." He plays professionally and streams his gameplay online to an audience of more than 7 million followers. "Kids could be walking around with letter jackets for gaming and I love it. I absolutely love it," he said.
With universities such as New York University and the University of California, Irvine now offering scholarships for video games, the career trajectory for esports is more similar to traditional sports than it has ever been — from high school and college to pro.
Kids could be walking around with letter jackets for gaming and I love it. I absolutely love it."

BENJAMIN LUPO, AKA "DR. LUPO"

"The current pipeline for esports is: Kid is interested in a video game, kid starts playing video game, kid gets good at video game, kid gets paid," said Prokes.
"It's a hobby that they're passionate about and we want to encourage that and give them a pathway to a career in the future, whether that's as a professional video game player or in a STEM career that helps to develop future games," he added.

"Really? The actual State Farm?"
In what is truly a sign of the times, some gamers are now signing endorsement deals once reserved for the likes of Lebron James and Tom Brady.
Lupo is one of those gamers. He's the first individual esports athlete to sign an endorsement deal with State Farm.
"We have Aaron Rodgers covering football and we work with Chris Paul in the NBA space," said Ed Gold, marketing director for State Farm. "[Now] we've been starting to get much more involved in esports."
Lupo's Twitch streams include State-Farm-branded replay. The insurance company said that was only the beginning of their relationship.
"You take a major sports advertiser like State Farm that advertise in the NFL, NBA, Major League Baseball, college basketball, college football, and now this company State Farm has said, 'Yes, we believe in esports,'" Gold said. "Did I think we'd ever sign an esports gamer? No. But a year and a half ago there wasn't anything called Fortnite."
In 2018, Fortnite became an international video game sensation, and at one point, it added 125 million players in a matter of months.
"I got very lucky to get to where I am," Lupo said. "A lot of people now are trying to make what I do and what other big names do. Fortnite had a big part to play in that really blowing the scene up."


https://www.cnn.com/2019/03/18/tech/esports-varsity-arena/index.html

What are your thoughts ?Question mark?

Let's talk about it ;)
 
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RoboCop

The future of law enforcement.
Administrator
Premium Supporter
I thought this had already been a thing for years. I know you've been able to get college credit by playing Starcraft and League of Legends for a long-ass time. Maybe it's just now finding its way into high schools?
 

Baconlord

Proud follower of the church of Cetrion
yeah I'm helping my school start up their own esport club and it's been doing super well. we pretty much have the best overwatch team in the state
I don’t understand why it’s called a sport, or even an esport... why not just call it what it is, competitive gaming.
because if we call it a sport we get better funding
 

smaddy

I'm your huckleberry
When you want to say "I was born a decade too late" but then you realized that decade should be decade(s) to be accurate and realize you're an old bastard.
 

colby4898

Special Forces Sonya Up-player
yeah I'm helping my school start up their own esport club and it's been doing super well. we pretty much have the best overwatch team in the state

because if we call it a sport we get better funding
I also feel like people think calling it a sport means its taken more seriously. To the point where people have also called the gamers athletes, which is just ridiculous.
 

GLoRToR

Positive Poster!
It wasn't official but in "information technologies" class at school (an eon ago) we were playing the newly released Starcraft 1 as a recreational activity and competition among students.
Yours truly was the #1 protoss out of 90-something students, and always at least top 3.

Now there is scientific evidence that gaming is good for the mind if done correctly.
I applaud this.
 

MKF30

Fujin and Ermac for MK 11
I guess vid games could be on par with Chess, mentally but not physically like Baseball, Football, B-ball etc.
 
That is so good that because video games are very good for building your strategic planning skills and they also increase your leadership qualities. But keep in mind not to spend so much amount of money in these games rather buy them through offers and discounts which are available at various sites. You can find more information about various offers and deals with just one click.
 

MKF30

Fujin and Ermac for MK 11
I consider vid games and board games to be as competitive as sports, however I don't consider them actual sports since sports are physically challenging as well as mentally. Vid games, most at least are just mental, not so much physical....DDR being a rare exception.