A Brief Exploration of Esports

By Chidi Ohia, Contributing Author

Reddit. (2024, February 16). League of Legends Worlds 2024 [Reddit post]. Reddit. Retrieved February 16, 2025, from https://www.reddit.com/r/lolesports/comments/13rx0zh/league_of_legends_worlds_2024_in_london_is/

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What Parents Need to Know About Esports

Electronic sports (Esports) are organized, competitive video games played by professional video game players (pros). In the same way that there are individual and team-based sports like singles in tennis and basketball, there are individual and team-based Esports like Street Fighter and League of Legends respectively. The audiences for these games and the scale of the competitions are massive. For instance, in 2021, the biggest tournament of the year (The International) for the game DOTA 2 had a prize pool of $49,050,517.

GamesRadar. (2025, February 16). What is esports?. GamesRadar. Retrieved February 16, 2025, from https://www.gamesradar.com/what-is-esports/

Esports can inspire the same feelings of competitiveness, dedication, teamwork, and drive in children that regular sports do, and since these games are often more accessible than regular sports, children are able to more easily relate through the experience of playing them.

If your child expresses an interest in esports or competitive games, consider sharing in their interest by taking them to a local tournament, getting them merchandise of their favorite team or watching content about it together online during bonding time.

Relevant Videos 

1. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hoegVShW890

2. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=83BWxaGc6mg