I am not really an expert on watching either type of sports, but I do see similarities and differences. I think the competitive aspect is similar and that is what audiences enjoy as well. However, the physical aspect of conventional sporting events is in my opinion an added value eSports don't have. The real life action of a football game with 11 players on both sides on a big field is a way other experience than opponents on either side of the screen competing and the audience watching the screen (or the players, not sure here...). In that respect, I prefer conventional sporting events, though I might understand people who like the eSports.

However the eSports is increasing inexorably but I think the stage of conventional sports is much higher than eSports. Performing the conventional sports successfully requires not only physical exercises but a stable mentality to keep a balance between the two areas ( physic and mental).

Also participating in conventional sports' events gives a sense of excitement and activity to fans. While eSports mostly require technical savvy and technological knowledge to perform a game that they may not be interesting to most viewers.

They do both have similarities and differences. At the end of the day they are both entertaining just perhaps in different ways. I would still have to go with actual sports, just because the true intensity and the fact that it is more real.

E-sports is a new sport one could say, and not well known to the masses. Furthermore the image of gaming is still quite negative and will, most likely, never become as popular as football for instance. However, seeing as the gaming industry itself is huge and growing at a rapid paste I do predict e-sports to become big, but with an audience that is dedicated to the game. Whereas for the more conventional sports, the audience does not have to have any dedication, as the sport itself is simple and well known enough to enjoy, regardless of prior knowledge.

Although there are many similarities between them it is important to remember that conventional sports has had a much longer time to develop than e-sports and currently can't be compared popularity wise. Ever since starcraft (brood wars) it is however noticeable that e-sports is rapidly growing, and huge pricepools are being dealt out to winners (particularly in LoL and Dota2). In order to become a contender both require considerable amount of talent and dedication. In terms of action, both have an equally thrilling experience. The main difference is that professional gaming is still considered a niche among a more widespread audience and to understand their level of play, the individual audience must have fairly decent experience playing the game. In most conventional sports, the basic rules are fairly simple.

An example: In football (soccer for Americans) the basic strategy is to score a point against the opposing team and as the game progresses the purpose of each player is made clear simply by listening to the commentary (defenders, midfield, strikers, goalkeeper). In dota2, the goal is to defeat the opposing teams throne. Now to understand every Hero and their active item use WILL take time and can't be learned by simply watching a match. Furthermore map awareness and meta game counter picking is something that only comes after many games of dota2. Unfortunately, this will put many people off watching e-sports.

I have personally never attended an e-sports event and normally don't really watch sport events too often. But I do think eSports can be interesting to watch. I am not a gamer, but I do enjoy playing console games and I wouldn't mind watching people competing in Skyrim for example. On the contrary, I would even take on some tips and maybe change my strategy according to what I see.

I think eSports and sport events are extremely different simply because one requires more intellects while the others requires using physical force. Both are interesting to watch, but I think everybody knows that in Europe at least eSports are not very well known (I'm thinking about a broader target audience, so females included), while sport events are watched by a lot of people. I can also refer to people seeing sports as a way to stay in shape and keep a healthy lifestyle and thus are more likely to watch the World Cup rather than the Skyrim Cup (I made that up, yes). And even if they are not huge sports fan, I'm sure they are at least aware that the event is going on. Whereas if you think about gaming, you can't assume old people would watch it, or moms, or girls.

To be honest, it seems to me that eSports are more for a smaller audience and I don't really think it would gain as much popularity as a sport event does at the moment. Also because according to history, the first ancient Olympic Games can be traced back to 776 BC. eSports however are quite recent and thus have a smaller chance in becoming a worldwide phenomenon.

For me, watching e-sports can be as intense if not more intense as watching real sports. The skills and craftsmanship are similar and one can train just as hard on a digital game as in real life. Evenly so, more spectacular matters happen in a digital realm where possibilities are vastly more apparent than in conventional sports. When comparing this to conventional sports the latter seems rather dull in my opinion. If e-sports would become a regular sport, or even an olympic sport, I might actually watch sports on TV for once in my life.

I am also not an avid participant in either of them, but I can see benefits in both. I imagine eSports lack that collective enthusiasm to cheering on particular teammates or yelling at the referee that conventional sporting events have, but there is still collectivity and competitiveness in eSports (albeit a more passive one).

The danger level is also relatively lower with eSports (I would imagine)... I can't really imagine someone hurting (or even fatally injuring) another person for liking one player more than the other, while in conventional sporting events, there is a weird sort of guarantee that some kind of fight will/might happen. So one might be "safer" and more passive, but the other gives more of an active sense of togetherness.

This is the first time I hear about eSports and I think I would personally prefer conventional sports. eSports might be interesting to some people because it might be more spectacular and extreme than conventional sports, but personally I prefer to watch something that comes from 'real' human effort than from computers.

I can understand that gamers like to watch 'professionals' play their favourite game. I really can imagine that it is kind of the same as when you play football yourself and like to see professionals play, admiring them and hoping to become as good as them. However I do think that in the gaming world you need to have played the game yourself to be interested in seeing professional play the game. If you have not played the game yourself, I do not think it is interesting to watch. With conventional sporting events this might be different. People who watch ice skating, for example, whether they have done it before or not, it doesnt really matter. --> I dont know anything about games or whatsoever, so excuse me if what i'm saying is totally wrong

To be honest, I rarely watch sports games. I think the development of eSports is a logical consequence of the significant advancement in technology and the internet. Whether they are as enjoyable as conventional sport games are is a matter of individual preferences. For me, as someone who is looking for entertainment in the real world, eSports would not cause much of excitement or worship of a team or a player. At the same time, tech-savvy audiences would probably develop a sense of belonging to the game and respect for the players, just like people do in real life. However, I believe, sports fans will always be more attracted to visit the conventional sports events.

Like some others, this is also the first time for me to hear the term eSports. That being said, I cannot imagine myself being as enthousiastic about watching gamers play a game than real players playing a conventional game. I rarely play console games, but if the rare opportunity comes up, I prefer playing myself over watching (how) others play. But that is just personal taste.

The major difference between eSports and conventional sports is of course the level of extertion. Conventional sports are all about physical endurance while eSports are more about mind endurance. Also, the target audience is different, literally everyone could watch a soccer match, while gaming is more for computer nerds. The similarities are the competitive nature of both forms of playing a game. In the end, every competitor wants (their team) to win. Still, I would say I prefer conventional sports over eSports, because the whole experience appeals much more to me.

I do not know a lot about e-sports but I can imagine both can be very exciting! However I would prefer conventional sport events as it might be easier to identify with such or empathise. The fact that e-sports exist and that professional players are seen as famous does not surprise me at all, and in both, conventional and e-sport events, the players are overcoming challenges and want to win and are competing which is exciting.

Interesting! In short: I agree with Paul. eSports events seem to be too specific, while a conventional sporting event can attract a broader audience. Maybe this will change in future but as for now, this is definitely different. Also a conventional sporting event is an athletic one, while the focus at eSports events is set on other skills. Other than that they probably have a lot in common.

I think esports can be easily compared to traditional sports. Even though it might not seem as difficult as conventional sports on the surface, it can be physically and mentally very demanding and requires talent, discipline and training to compete on a high level (like traditional sports). I also think that esports is more accessible, everybody has the opportunity to join in whereas with most conventional sports one has to start at an early age to be successful on higher levels.

That is also why I prefer to watch esports events: I can easier relate to what is happening and how demanding it is for the players. I do not have the same connection to most conventional sports. I envy South Koreans because they have such a broad offer in their mainstream media landscape and esports is much more accepted there than in most European countries, where gaming is still seen as a stigma sometimes.

I also prefer watching conventional sports. Besides competition, sport also involves physical effort, discipline, team spirit (depending on the sport) and maybe some personal sacrifices. In my opinion, it is far more interesting watching people compete in conventional sports than gamers playing on a computer. Just like Naomi said, is is a more interesting activity if you do it yourself and watching others play is not necessarily entertaining.

I see some similarities between Esports and conventional sporting but I do believe that conventional sports is and will remain far more popular than Esports. Although in some countries E sporting is very popular I think the main reason people will like real physical sport more is because of the fact that it has a more present human factor to it. People like to watch people conquer on another based on physical training and strength, endurance and having the best state of mind mentally. Conventional sporting has a different spectator experience than esports which is mainly observing a computer screen. I do believe Esports is a world on its own with talent and fun experiences for the audience who are interested in them but i think conventional sporting carries a large package of emotion, mental and physical competition which results in a greater interest for these types of sport.

Personally I think that the similarities are quite obvious: fans of the respective "sport" are gathered to watch their team/player play, it can be used as a betting platform and of course the marketing merchandise can bring a lot of profit to the players in this business. However, the differences I guess are that eSports can be a bit local (more expressed in Asia, rather the rest of the world), while most of the traditional sports like the Olympics and World Cup have a bigger fan base and are more developed at the moment.

The eSports phenomenon is experiencing rapid growth, the sort of growth that European football has had a hard time reaching in the United States (Where the MLS is still considered something of a little league sport, having a hard time competing with the NBA and MLB.) This is mostly down to culture, whereas football has long staked its claim in Europe the United States has grown up with and gotten accustomed to Basketball.

So where do eSports fit into all this? They’re currently a professional sport practiced by professionals with skills and talent far beyond their amateur counterparts (the difference between a pro LoL player and me truly is as big as the difference between Robben and me on a football pitch.)

The difference is that anyone can see just why Robben is so good with the ball at his feet, when he dribbles his way past a trio of defender and lashes a shot into the bottom-right corner of the goal, anyone can see just why this is special. It’s going to take a lot longer for Video Games to reach that same level of comprehensiveness, because first the age-old adage of “Games are for geeks” needs to be broken for a larger audience to start playing the game or at least showing interest in it. After this ‘acceptance’ comes, hopefully ‘understanding’ at which point more people will understand the game through either word-of-mouth (A girl might watch her boyfriend play a game of basketball today, and she might be rooting for her boyfriend to win a game of LoL when there’s money on the line) or personal experience. I do believe this process will take many years, and due to the complexity of the systems video games will probably never reach the same level of popularity that regular sports enjoy. But, I do believe eSports are real sports (even though I don’t personally view them) and I expect that they will only continue to grow in importance and relevance in the coming years and decades.

Cybersports and regular sports are both forms of entertainment that involve competition, skill and fans. However, there are significant differences between the two, such as:

Cybersports are played on electronic systems such as computers, consoles, or mobile devices, while conventional sports are played on physical fields, courts, or arenas.

Cybersports have a global audience, like say https://tips.gg/betting/esports-sites/ , that can watch live streams or replays online, while regular sports have a more regional or national audience that may require access to television broadcasts or subscriptions.

Cybersports have lower barriers to entry and participation as anyone with an internet connection and a device can play or watch, whereas conventional sports require greater physical, financial and logistical resources.