The Lancer

The Lancer

The Lancer

Celebrities catastrophic effect on the environment
Joseph Goodnight, Opinion Editor • March 27, 2024

With our current understanding of the climate crisis, it’s safe to say that everyone is trying to be more sustainable for the sake of the environment,...

Lancer-to-Los Robles volunteer system stays strong
Lancer-to-Los Robles volunteer system stays strong
Gemma Spraggins, Assistant News Editor • March 27, 2024

Los Robles Regional Medical Center benefits from the varied talents and experiences that volunteers offer, ranging from high school students...

Time T.O. Vote
Time T.O. Vote
Kailah Spencer, The Lancer Staff • March 27, 2024

Senior Maya Campo turns 18 in April, and she is ready to make her voice heard this November. As the presidential primary election nears, seniors...

Going Digital: The SAT’s New Normal
Going Digital: The SAT’s New Normal
Kailah Spencer, The Lancer Staff • March 27, 2024

Many Lancers students are familiar with the SAT; a paper test with over a hundred questions of varying difficulty. Now, CVUSD is introducing...

Around the Business Table
Around the Business Table
Julia Pineda-Dominguez, The Lancer Staff • March 27, 2024

The Majors program provides students with the opportunity to speak with mentors in many different careers. The program consists of monthly meetings...

Moreno heads to Washington
Moreno heads to Washington
Aandrea Pineda-Dominguez, News Editor • March 27, 2024

It was finally over. The bell gave its shrieking cry and off went hundreds of students to enjoy their freedom, at least for a moment. For...

TO Acorn With Permission
Lancers lose a forever friend
Jake Bradley, Sports Editor • March 27, 2024

Bill Gemberling has worn many hats at Thousand Oaks High: student, teacher, coach, sports announcer. But taxi driver? “I was one of (Brett...

Unexpected La Reina closure leads to transfers
Gemma Spraggins, Assistant News Editor • March 27, 2024

escribing how La Reina families felt upon receiving the news that their school, which opened its doors in 1964, will be closing at the end of...

New MegaMind TV and Movie Sequel Release
New MegaMind TV and Movie Sequel Release
Joseph Goodnight, Opinion Editor • February 20, 2024

In March of this year, Dreamworks is set to release a Peacock exclusive TV show and movie sequel to the beloved 2010 MegaMind movie. The trailer...

In Fastbreak Fashion
Jake Bradley, Sports Editor • February 14, 2024

Lancers lead the way in the second half. The Great Oak Wolfpack came into Thousand Oaks Tuesday night for the CIF quarterfinals and with them...

Perserving in Penalty’s
Jake Bradley, Sports Editor • February 14, 2024

The Lady Lancers traveled to a neutral site in Anaheim to take on the Katella Knights in the second round of the CIF-SS girls soccer playoffs....

Kanye - He's Back at it...or Maybe Not?
Elijah Brown, The Lancer Staff • February 14, 2024

Kanye West's new album “Vultures 1”, many nationwide were skeptical at first about Kanye's new album considering the controversies he has...

It’s Valentine’s, Baby
It’s Valentine’s, Baby
Momo Sonoda, Editor-In-Chief • February 14, 2024

St. Valentine’s Day commemorates the death of St. Valentine, but for others, the holiday marks a day of birth. Junior Chokee Weezer was born...

Health Science Majors Program hosts their senior showcase
Momo Sonoda, Editor-In-Chief • February 12, 2024

Last week, the seniors in Health Science Majors hosted a showcase, featuring various professions that they hope to pursue in the future. At the...

Advancing Again
Jake Bradley, Sports Editor • February 12, 2024

The Lancers left campus during lunch to travel to Temecula for their round two playoff game, and the ride wasn’t enough to stop the Lancers....

Esports Shouldn’t Work

Esports+Shouldnt+Work

I feel bad for esports — I pity them, to be more specific. It’s not that people tend to frown upon video games or don’t consider them sports or think that they’re for nerds: if you think about it, the mere concept of esports is self-defeating. By all means, they shouldn’t work. I’ll use League of Legends (LoL), which had over 14 million concurrent viewers during its 2015 World Championship finals, as an example.

Professional players are payed $12,500 for participating in the LoL Championship Series (LCS), provided by Riot Games, the owner of LoL, which adds up to $25,000 a year. Add in the extra $50,000 for coaches and teams are supplemented with $175,000 for an entire year — not a lot, since it’s split up between at least seven people. Winning the LCS tournaments earns a maximum of $50,000 for the team, but most teams don’t win and they struggle with sustaining themselves.

Even though LoL is currently the worlds most popular esport, it’s extremely difficult for teams to just stay afloat. Andy ‘Reginald’ Dinh, the owner of Team SoloMid, stated in an interview that most LoL teams actually lose money; covering the salaries and living costs of an entire team, its subs and its coaching staff costs way more than the stipend covers.

Naturally, as a team that consistently plays in front of hundreds of thousands of people, sponsorships help to subsidize costs. It’s not always that simple, though, especially for teams that don’t regularly win, aka most teams. Not only that, but teams that underperform are relegated from the LCS, meaning they can’t play LoL competitively anymore, anywhere.

As a sponsor, the idea of your entire investment suddenly being relegated and disappearing is frightening, but teams desperately need them to sustain themselves.

Something even more terrifying, though, is the fact that a team’s performance can drastically change in a single day. I’m referring to patches, or updates.

If you’re unfamiliar with these, pretty much all online multiplayer video games have consistent updates to remove bugs, add more content and generally balance and smoothen the gameplay — think of how phone apps are updated.

These patches can completely change the flow and direction of the game. Suddenly, strategies and tactics that worked well before become null and void. Sometimes, the very mechanics of a game change. Patches are necessary for a game to expand and remain relevant. However, they are also targeted at the majority, i.e., not professionals.

When major patches come out, casual players have to relearn the game. Professionals have to remaster the game, often in a short time span. And even though video games are generally considered to be fun, playing and concentrating for 10+ hours a day inevitably leads to player burn out.

Don’t get me wrong — all careers change over time. Tennis in 1950 is completely different from tennis now, from the clothes they wore, to the rackets they used, to the form they hit the ball with. Here’s where they diverge though: in tennis, the way the game is played changes and advances, whereas in esports the game itself changes. Not only that, but esports change much more rapidly and more drastically — LoL has had 17 patches in 2016 alone.

As a result, even a consistent team’s performance can fluctuate greatly, meaning that for sponsors, investing in a team isn’t ever completely safe. No matter how you look at it, that’s bad news for esports teams.

The odds are stacked overwhelmingly against esports, but they nonetheless exist and are even flourishing. Each year they grow bigger and bigger, and there’s no end in sight to their growth. The oxymoron of esports is mind boggling, but inspiring. It’s proof that even in our modern, capitalistic world, anything is possible. And it also shows how hopelessly obsessed we are with video games.

Leave a Comment
More to Discover

Comments (0)

The Lancer intends for this area to be used for a thought-provoking discussion. Comments are reviewed and must be approved by a moderator. The Lancer requires a valid email address, which will be used to confirm your comments. Please refrain from replying directly to another user through the "Reply" button, but rather submitting a comment below to avoid color and formatting issues, it is much appreciated. You may "@User" to direct a comment, as needed, and we will be able to contact the designated user(s) for a response. ~Website Staff
All Picks Reader Picks Sort: Newest

Activate Search
The Lancer
Esports Shouldn’t Work