Last Tuesday, Riot hosted and livestreamed the 2017 Worlds Group Draw Pulls for its monstrously popular video game League of Legends to fill in the tournament bracket and see who will be playing who in China from September 24 to November 4. The League Championship Series (LCS) is comprised of 13 regions - based geographically - so that teams from all regions compete in Worlds across the stages. Here are the LCS regions:
Read MoreHere we go with Part 3 in this four-part argumentative series. The eSports competition structure is quite different from traditional sports, though there are certainly parallels that raise it to an equivalent level. In my opinion, I believe that traditional sports could actually learn something from the eSports structure. So, to illustrate the last bit of facts before advancing my argument as to why eSports is a sport by applying facts to the definition's elements, I will break it down into two pieces: (1) the league structure, and (2) the overall business structure.
Read MoreAs promised, Part 2 & Part 3 in this series outline facts about eSports and the community across the globe. There is a lot of information I could relay here, but I will break it up into two parts to ease you into this side of the debate. eSports is more than meets the eye on the surface. A particular type of game demonstrates that, as you will see below:
In general terms, eSports is competitive video gaming. There are single-player games in addition to multiplayer games, there are teams for the multiplayer games, and there are different game consoles players can use (e.g., Xbox, desktop computer). Players and viewers come from both genders, though the ratio is terribly lopsided. Most notably, the variety of game structures can be categorized into a few genres so that players know what to expect from the game and can master a particular type of game..
Read MoreIn retrospect, 2016 was not half bad. Well, it was more like 60-65% bad, but the year undoubtedly had its moments, good and bad!
I believe in many ways that 2017 will be a continuation of things in one direction or another rather than a birth of entirely new topics, especially in the sports law realm. Part of the reason I believe this is because of the incoming US President's opinions and involvement in certain areas. Another part is due to the basic timeline of league and player contracts in the "Big Four" (NFL, NBA, NHL, and MLB) so that instead of big changes in the relationship statuses taking place, upcoming practices acting upon and interpreting those contracts will create news and continue to add to existing sentiment. Without further ado, here are six hot topics we should keep an eye out for throughout 2017.
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