Click or kick - how much analog sports do we need?
SportTech and eSports
Like traditional sport, eSports also has a share of professionals, commentators and celebrities. The prize money is certainly comparable to traditional sport. The prize pool of the National Basketball Association is 13 million dollars, the Golf Masters 11 million dollars and the Confederations Cup 20 million dollars. eSports exceeds each of them with a total prize pool of 24.7 million dollars.
FIFA even has its own eWorld Cup, where the 32 best FIFA19 Xbox and PlayStation players compete for the title of FIFA eWorld Champion.
eSports has become so popular that even the International Olympic Committee (IOC) is trying to understand it better. The IOC is not the only organisation that takes eSports seriously.
The US government has recognized the full-time League of Legends players as professional athletes.
But critics are joking about the idea of calling gaming a real sport. After all, the players are sitting on a chair for hours and only show agility and skill in their hands, they argue.
Athletes argue that it takes a lot of skill and strategy to win games. Hours of training is required, as with any other athlete. Physical exertion is not a vital characteristic of sport. Chess players, darts players and snooker players don’t have to move much either.
Scientists at the German Sports University have studied eSports professionals closely and are rather puzzled. The ePlayers are exposed to similar levels of stress during the competitions as much as other top athletes.
“We were particularly impressed by the motoric requirements and abilities. The eSportsmen manage up to 400 movements per minute on keyboard and mouse, four times more than the average citizen! This is also asymmetrical because both hands are moved parallel and different brain regions are used simultaneously”.
The scientists are unaware of any other type of sport that puts this strain on his brain, and even table tennis players would have to do less in hand-eye coordination.
Especially in strategy games like Counter-Strike or League of Legends the complexity is extremely high, because besides the motor skills an enormous tactical understanding is necessary to defeat the opponent.
In a further experiment, the psychological stress of the eSports professionals was also tested during the competition. They were tested for the stress hormone cortisol.
The results showed that the level of cortisol is about the same as of racing drivers. In addition to a very high pulse, the heart rate of 160 to 180 beats per minute is added. This is comparable to a marathon run. High motoric demands round off the requirements.
That’s why eSport is at least as good as other sports, if not superior, according to the experts at Deutsche Sporthochschule Köln.
The research results also show, however, that the majority of professional players do not meet the high standards of nutrition and training control. For example, there is a lack of training units that strengthen the entire support system in the shoulder and neck area. This could also increase the fine motor skills in the arm area, which is enormously important for competition. There is also a lack of relaxation exercises and classic fitness training. The topic of nutrition does not do justice to a competitive athlete either. Energy drinks and beverages containing sugar are still decisive.
The still unprofessional preparation for competitions will soon belong to the past with the increasing professionalization of eSports. The technological possibilities of SportTech will be part of everyday life. Wearables and fitness trackers for condition measurement, smart clothing, dietary supplements or data analytics for game evaluation and improvement are some examples that eSports people will have to use to survive in competition.
An industry that will crack the billion in sales by 2019 has long outgrown its infancy. eSports will represent a larger market than the UEFA Champions League in the next 5 years. An amateur-like preparation for professional competitions will be a thing of the past.
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