Michael Jordan, Lionel Messi, Tom Brady and Lee “Faker” Sang-hyeok — each name represents one of the greats in their sport. Jordan in basketball, Messi in soccer, Brady in football and Faker in League of Legends.
Esports is a booming industry. According to CNN, the revenue growth from 2015 to 2016 was $194 million to $463 million. That is an astounding 239 percent increase with projections putting it at over $1 billion by 2019.
In 2017, the League of Legends World’s Finals had a total viewership of 60 million people, that is double the viewership of the 2016 Finals.
To put it in perspective, that viewership is three times as much as the NBA finals receives and is close to overtaking the Super Bowl’s viewership record.
Max Rothenburg | Argonaut
Yet, people still try to argue that esports, League of Legends specifically, is just a game.
League of Legends, or LoL, started in October of 2009 and is in the Massive Online Battle Arena genre, or MOBA.
The first LoL World Championship took place in 2011 with a prize pool of $100,000 and a total viewership of 1.6 million.
In just six years the prize pool grew 50 times over for a total of $5 million in 2017, and the viewership grew almost 38 times.
This is for only one game, there are other games just as big if not bigger than League of Legends.
In November 2017, Riot Games, Creators of League of Legends, announced the 10 teams accepted into franchising (a permanent partnership) for the North American League Championship Series (NA LCS). Of the 10 teams, four were new to the league.
The franchise-fee payment was $10 million upfront, with new teams paying an additional $3 million.
Among the new teams were Clutch Gaming of the Houston Rockets, Golden Guardians of the Golden State Warriors and 100 Thieves, backed by the owner of the Cleveland Cavaliers.
But these are not the only examples of esports teams currently backed by long-running sports organizations. Almost every team in the league has professional backing — Counter Logic Gaming, backed by Madison Square Garden Co., Echo Fox, founded by former NBA all-star Rick Fox, and current 2018 NA LCS Spring Split champions Team Liquid, backed by Disney, the owner of the Washington Capitals and the owner of the Tampa Bay Lightning.
With franchising comes an increase in salary and the founding of a Player’s Association. According to a Dot Esports article, the average player salary in 2018 is over $320,000.
In July 2013, the U.S. government passed a law recognizing esports players as professional athletes. This means esports athletes qualify for a U.S. P1 Visa.
Griffen Winget | Argonaut
In a Forbes article with previous Riot Games esports Manager Nick Allen, he described the process of changing legislation.
“This was a constant back and forth of ‘show us more proof … is this realistic?’ and that sort of thing,” Allen said. “Eventually it got to the point where they were like ‘we have no reason to say no… okay, this is legitimate.’ “
What esports lacks in physical exertion, it makes up for with mental effort and raw dedication.
A former Team Liquid player, Kim “Fenix” Jae-hun, said he often sleeps for only four hours a night and practices between 12 and 14 hours per day, according to a Business Insider article.
As League of Legends continues to grow, esports as a whole grows too. Not only are more people recognizing esports as a legitimate sport, but player commitment and dedication is greater than ever before.
“It has surprised me that I’ve met individuals and we have individuals in our organization who rival some of the greats I’ve played with in terms of their passion and their drive to get better day to day, their hunger to win,” Rick Fox said in an interview with USA Today. “And I’ve played with Kobe. I’ve played with Larry Bird.”
Griffen Winget and Max Rothenberg can be reached at [email protected]