3 thoughts on “It’s not “athletics,” it’s not “sports” – is it entrepreneurship?

  1. Very interesting! The discussion of the globalization of previously “underground” games, the “mainstreaming of e-sports,” and the subsequent idea of “region-locking” (where players have to “declare a continent of residency and stick to it”) is very fascinating. It seems like there has been massive innovation and change within the industry itself.

    It’s interesting to view Scarlett as an entrepreneur. She is only twenty years old, but entirely in control of her own professional schedule. It was interesting that her salary at twenty years old is more than her father’s. Additionally, the fact that she gets other financial benefits from her job—such as plane tickets subsidized by the e-sport companies—indicates that her time spent on gaming is not just a glorified hobby, but rather shows the beginnings of a true career.

  2. The emergence of e-sports has been an interesting event to watch over the last decade or so. I’m old enough to remember when many of these kinds of games were the opposite of mainstream nor did they retain any economic value to gamers. Now, gaming has become a very lucrative industry. Just last weekend, ESPN2 showed two people playing FIFA 17 to decide who would win $100,000. These kinds of tournaments use to happen maybe once or twice a year, now they are happening regularly and being televised on national TV. Gamers who have both advanced the scope of the gaming economy, and those who have merely taken advantage of it are definitely entrepreneurs.