Stadiums across the world are filling with fans eager to cheer on their favorite teams competing in the world’s fastest-growing sport. But it may not be a sport at all.

Competitive video gaming, or e-sports, is a growing cultural phenomenon tied to a shift in the way people socialize around video games and consumer technology. It has all the trademarks of professional athletics—TV deals, teams, sponsorships, fans, big prize money, cults of celebrity for top players, and so on. The cultural reach of e-sports extends far beyond the stadiums filled with fans. It’s a fast-growing form of global popular culture whose growth is a case study of how society leverages new technologies to satiate its age-old appetite for public spectacle and competition. The question isn’t whether electronic sports are the future of sports—the question we should all be asking is, “Are e-sports the future of entertainment?”

Step away from your screens, turn off your consoles, and join Future Tense in New York City at 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday, April 5, to explore the future impact of e-sports. For more information and to RSVP, visit the New America website.

Speakers

Seth Stevenson
Contributing writer, Slate

Victoria Jackson
Sports historian, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, Arizona State University

Craig Levine
CEO, ESL America 

T.L. Taylor
Professor, comparative media studies, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Author, Raising the Stakes: E-Sports and the Professionalization of Computer Gaming