The president of ESPN said that videogames are not a sport, no matter how many people are watching.
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"It's not a sport--it's a competition. Chess is a competition. Checkers is a competition," ESPN President John Skipper said at Re/code's Code/Media conference in New York last week. "Mostly, I'm interested in doing real sports."
Skipper does not mince words with these comments, despite the fact that his network recently aired a preview show for the Dota 2 International Grand Finals, and has broadcast events in the past. He may not think eSports are real sports, but that (like poker) does not seem to preclude the network for showing them.
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Amazon recently spent almost $1 billion to acquire Twitch.tv, an entertainment outlet almost completely focused on broadcasting competitive gaming. Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos apparently undercut Google in the purchase--the tech giant had supposedly been eyeing the network for some time until Amazon swooped in and made an offer.
Microsoft is also on-board with eSports, even if Skipper is not a big fan. They recently updated their SmartGlass app for Xbox One to allow for really easy recording of game clips, as well as a simplified way to share clips on sites like YouTube or the app's own social channels. If Twitch and eSports continue to grow, Skipper may very well change his tune.