When people think of sports they probably think of football, basketball, or any other sport that is heavily broadcast and well known by today's society. What most people don't think of is the rapidly growing world of eSports. In its basic form, eSports is simply competitive gaming. One of the biggest arguments involving eSports is the question of is it really a sport? Of course, this question has people on both sides claiming it is and it is not. Here are some things to think about when forming your own opinion.

Let's start with the basic definition of a sport. Sport: an activity involving physical exertion and skill in which an individual or team competes against another or others for entertainment. Now let's take today's society. As was previously stated, most people think of football or something along those lines. A bunch of tall, buff dudes smashing into each other trying to put a ball made of some material into a certain spot, be it a net or an end zone. Football in its basic form is a physical activity in which a team is trying to win a competition. Now let's look at eSports. It is an activity in which an individual or team is competing against another or others for entertainment. The only thing missing from this is physical exertion. That is where your opinion comes into play. Some would say that the repeated use of one's hands and wrists to coordinate the on-screen movements of one's character should be considered physical exertion. While some may say this is an easy task, consider this: the average person implements 50-60 actions per minute or APM. The average professional gamer inputs around 300-400 APM with the record high reaching 818 APM or roughly 14 actions per second! While they may not be using every muscle in their body to throw a ball or run down a field, I challenge someone to reach even 200 APM and see how they feel after doing that for an hour. Next, let us look at the training each athlete endures.

Professional football players average 36 hours in six days of training. Top tier professional gamers average 50 hours a week in training. While the two types of training are two completely different worlds it is still at a basic level, the same thing. Both football players and gamers are training their mind and body for hours every day to be the best they can be at what they do. Though the training may be different, what these athletes go through is nearly the same. Here are a few things to think about when picking your side.

Both sides train every day to be the best they can be. Both sides are at risk of physical injury. Both sides must face not only the fear of losing but the fear of winning too. Fear of winning occurs most when an underdog is close to beating someone that is said to be much better he or she. The underdog will start to think of what is happening and not what needs to be done in order to win, thus giving the better player the upper hand. Both sides are loved are closely watched by spectators that are not afraid to rip them to shreds mentally if a mistake is made.

If you ask me, both of these activities should be considered sports. At a basic level, each side goes through the same regiment and has the same ultimate goal in mind. eSports is a sport, not only is it in the name, the description states it is for entertainment. 32 million people watched the 2015 League of Legends World Championship, that is 12 million more viewers than the NBA Finals in 2016.