If you think of sports as an activity played by strong and fit athletes, you may be surprised to learn that digital trans-formation is changing the very definition of games. Today’s new super sports stars are teams of young nerds playing in competitive computer game tournaments with high stakes, prestige, fame, and money.

Not long ago, people saw gamers as an outsider subculture. But in recent years, they have flown on the jet stream of digitalization to go mainstream. E-sports have become one of the fastest growing sports to play and follow as players join the ranks of the rich and famous.

Hours of training. Every day

Unlike football or basketball, gaming doesn’t require a lot of physical activity. But like conventional athletes, e-sports players do need to hone their skills. The best e-sports players train for up to 14 hours a day to develop fast reflexes, quick thinking, and teamwork. To win, players need to react more than 300 times per minute and have the agility to multi-task. Moreover, every time there's an upgrade to a game, they have to train extra hard to master changes.

Traditional sports clubs take e-sports seriously

Traditional sports clubs, like Premier League football teams, are starting to buy e-Sports players to represent them in competitions. Recently, an official e-sport organization, the World E-sports Association, was formed to promote the growth and professionalization of e-sports, in much the same way Fifa does for soccer.

League of Legends World Championship

When gaming started, gamers sat alone in front of their computers. Today, thousands of fans participate in huge, multiplayer real-time events at stadiums, while even more fans follow the action on live streams. Most of them watch on YouTube and Twitch, a video streaming service where many e-sports fans watch their gaming heroes play live. The League of Legends World Championship is the culmination of each season. Teams compete for the championship title, the 70 pounds (32 kg) Summoner's Cup, and a multi-million top championship prize. 60 million people watched the 2017 finals, breaking 2016’s finals' viewer record.

Shoutcasting

Live commentaries of video games involve a lot of shouting. As a consequence, e-sports broadcasting has become a ‘thing’ called shoutcasting. Most shoutcasters are ex-gamers known to retire at a relatively young age. Professional gamers themselves are in the 17–25 age group. Burnout due to long days of practice and the lack of a ‘proper’ life makes it hard for most to stay in the game for long.