eSports, which are video games treated as sports, have grown from small local tournaments to worldwide events held in stadiums.

eSports are some of the fastest growing sports in the world, though soccer still takes the lead. But while the 2014 World Cup had 3.2 billion viewers, according to Rolling Stone magazine, eSport tournaments come in second place. For example, the last League of Legends tournament had 360 million viewers, compared to the 111.3 million who viewed the 2018 Super Bowl.

One of the reasons the growth has been so sudden is because the games are free to watch. All of the professional games are shown live on Twitch. There are also many successful streamers. YouTube, though it has a lot of problems, still averages about 5 billion views a day and hosts millions of high-level gamers who offer guides and entertainment to the gaming community.

Games such as League and Dota have the biggest communities, with around 50 million players who interact with each other daily. SFHS junior River Edwards said, “I think it’s an actual community like a sports community. Think about the NBA where you talk about different plays and things and you can connect with people.”

But gaming can be expensive. Buying computers and other platforms adds up, as well as the games themselves. However, games such as League and Dota are free and can be played on any computer made in the last ten years. This is one thing that causes those particular communities to be so large, along with the fact that there is always something new.

Colleges have even begun recognizing eSports. The University of California Irvine was one of the first to offer scholarships, and in 2016 opened an eSports arena to host tournaments. The program is now being expanded and mimicked by other schools.

Pro gamers can make a lot of money, with 545 pros across 109 teams and 13 leagues.

According to Business Insider, “Over 100 gamers have earned more than $250,000 [per year] in prize money alone, without counting the sponsorship deals and income that many of these players receive from streaming their practice games.”

While there’s more money to be made in other fields of gaming, such as advertising and designing, many people would rather play the games, which is becoming more and more viable every day.