eSports booms, becomes global industry

There are no bats, balls or baskets but there’s no doubt the growing industry of eSports, a type of competitive video game, has become a global spectator sport. In fact, the games are very similar to traditional, professional sports in presentation and recent financial success. eSports tournaments have sold out major stadiums across the world, top eSports “athletes” (as they’re called) make up to seven figures annually and corporate sponsors are pouring millions into the industry.

从事电子竞技无需准备球棒、球或者篮筐。但毫无疑问，这项电子游戏的竞技赛事已成长为全球一项观赏人数众多的运动。实际上电子竞技与传统的竞技比赛在表现形式和商业盈利上几无二致。电子竞技巡回赛全球各大型运动馆举行，顶尖的电子竞技“运动员”每年的收入高达七位数，企业赞助商不惜血本地投入大量金钱。

"This is the type of content where people watch it online. They watch for long periods. And advertisers love that. They need to be able to get their products and services in front of the millennial audience, which is really hard to market to," Steve Arhancet, co-owner of Team Liquid in Los Angeles, told Fox News.

Team Liquid的合伙人Steve Achancet在接受福克斯新闻采访时表示“人们在网络上收看电子竞技的比赛。观众将长时间收看这些比赛，这正是广告商的最爱，他们需要在80后观众面前展示自己的产品和服务。从前这样的营销是很难实现的。”

Industry experts estimate eSports revenues could come close to half a billion dollars this year. Games like ‘League of Legends,’ a free-to-play strategy game created by Riot Games based in West Los Angeles, California, are wildly popular. There are full-time players, teams, coaches, trainers, broadcasters and corporate sponsors.

行业专家估计今年电子竞技行业的收益将达到5亿美元。总部位于加州西洛杉矶的拳头游戏公司出品的即时战略游戏《英雄联盟》广受欢迎，而类似的游戏还有很多。目前该行业有很多全职的选手、战队、教练、训练师以及主播，还得到了许多企业的赞助。

“We’ve seen the cost of players double, triple every six months because of the amount of revenue that’s being unlocked into the industry,” Arhancet said.

Arhancet称“我们发现每隔半年，花在选手身上的钱便动辄上涨两倍甚至三倍，这都拜电竞行业尚未封顶的营收规模所赐。”

The youngest professional players are 17-years-old. Their parents have let them put their high school educations on hold to pursue such a lucrative hobby for several years.

世界上最年轻的职业选手年仅17岁。这些选手的父母允许自己的孩子放弃高中的学业转而从事吸金能力如此之强的“业余爱好”。

“A lot of people get like 20 thousand, 30 thousand, 40 thousand people watching them a night and when you’re doing that you get to basically run commercials and you get money off commercials,” Hai Lam, one of the most talented eSports athletes in the world, said.

世界上最顶尖选手之一的Hai Lam说：“有许多观众，大概有2万？3万？还是4万之多整晚都在收看比赛。其实观众在这样做的时候就是在从事基本的商业行为而且通过这样的商业行为挣到了钱。”

eSports athletes and teams earn money from salaries, merchandise sales, tournament winnings, corporate sponsors and from online streaming.

电竞选手和战队平时的收入来源包括工资，周边商品销售和在线视频流量的分成，赛事奖金，企业赞助。

“We filled out an Olympic soccer stadium in Korea a couple of years ago and the energy of the fans is just the same [as traditional sports],” Josh “Jatt” Leesman, a shoutcaster (think color commentator for traditional sports), said.

电竞播报员（类似传统比赛中的color commentator）Josh “Jatt” Leesman表示“几年前，一场奥林匹克足球赛令韩国的体育馆中人满为患。如今，粉丝的热情依旧未减。”

With so much money at stake, owners like Arhancet want to make sure they get the most out of their investments. Arhancet requires that his players live and practice together. Not only online, they also work out together outside at least twice a week. We tagged along as players from Team Liquid ran various drills with a former NFL player.

由于手头资金太多，Arhancet这样的战队老板希望确保自己的战队充分利用这些投资。Arhancet要求队员平时在一起生活和训练。选手们不仅要一同在网上比赛，每周还要进行至少两次户外锻炼。我们随行拍摄下了Team Liquid的选手们和前NFL球员一同训练的视频。

“If you have a healthy body and mind, it makes you play better and have a better attitude towards your teammates and other players,” Lam, who practices yoga and meditation, said.

Lam平时会进行瑜伽和冥想的练习，他说“如果身心健康，选手会有更佳的表现，也会以更好的态度对待队友和其他选手”。

And believe it or not, there are even growing concerns over performance enhancing drugs. Some players have been known to use amphetamines, like Adderall, so they can play longer or react faster.

令人匪夷所思的是，坊间甚至出现了对选手服用兴奋剂的担忧。据悉一些选手为了增强比赛时的精力并提高反应速度甚至已经开始服用阿得拉这样的安非他明类药物。

“So when there are competitions and there’s a lot of money on the line and a lot of fame and notoriety to be had then you’re going to run into situations where athletes are going to do anything they can to perform at the highest level,” Arhancet said.

Arhancet认为“选手们面对激烈的竞争，和一旦获胜便可名利双收（也可能是恶名）的诱惑，为保持最高水准会变得不择手段。”

The industry is now discussing if certain substances should be banned. In the meantime, investors see eSports as a thriving industry that continues to catapult its way to record setting profits year after year.

行业内部已经开始探讨是否应禁止服用某些药物。而在投资者的眼中，电竞业蓬勃发展，每年都在刷新去年创下的利润记录。

“Starting this year, I think Shaquille O’Neal invested in a team, A-Rod invested in a team, Rick Fox owns a team. It’s all these celebrities and big money people from the industry outside of this are starting to look at this and say ‘hey, this is pretty cool.’ So they’re tossing money now,” Lam says.

Lam说：“从今年开始，我认为沙克尔．奥尼尔和A-Rod会各投资一只电竞队，里克．福克斯会买下一支电竞队。这些电竞圈外的名人和富人看到了电竞业的前景，他们认为‘嘿，这太酷了！’于是开始大把大把地撒钱。”

Even colleges are getting into the action. UC Irvine recently announced its intention to create a sports arena, offer eSports scholarships to students and hire a coach.

甚至一些大学也将参与其中。加州大学欧文分校最近宣布，有意为学生提供电子竞技奖学金并雇佣教练，建立起一座电子竞技平台。

完成阅读

来源:foxnews爱语吧作者:gandalf