Sports games struggle to gain eSports footing

The eSports industry is now drawing annual revenues of near half billion dollars annually, with growth continuing at a rapid rate, yet sports video games have almost no place in the picture. EA Sports and 2K Sports are trying to establish their franchises as legitimate eSports however there are some major hurdles for them to overcome. Chief among them is that, despite how many people buy sports video games, relatively few seem interested in watching others play them.

In a follow-up to the most recent Press Row Podcast episode, the stumbles from publishers so far and the inherent concerns about sports video games as eSports and their lack of appeal to viewers are analyzed today in a piece written for Sporting News.