I don’t believe that a Professional Gamer… will ever get a 100 million dollar sponsorship deal. Nevertheless, I do believe that, “Professional-Gamers,” do deserve sponsorship, today. And furthermore, I also believe that, “Pro-Gaming sponsorship,” could range from 6 to 8 figure salaries, in the near future.

Yet, in professional baseball, Major League Baseball players have approximately 100 milliseconds to counter a 100mph fastball as compared to gamers who have also shown the ability to do so, using a joy stick. But skill-sets aside, you don’t have to tell Seth, “Scump,” Abner, that statistic. And that’s because, “Seth,” or, “Scumpii,” as he’s known on the Pro Gaming circuit, is the son of Shawn Abner a former professional baseball player. And not just that, but Shawn is a former Major League Baseball player who was drafted by the NY Mets #1 overall, in the 1984 draft, Scump’s Dad.

Nevertheless, today Shawn’s son Seth, a.k.a. “Scump,” is one of the most well known, “Professional Gamers,” in the world and Seth currently boasts a world-wide ranking of 124 out of 10m+ gamers on the game, “Call of Duty 4.”

But who’s reaction times are quicker? Scump or his Father’s?

And since Pro Gamers are constantly putting out content… this is what Scump was doing… literally yesterday, on the game.

And in this video... Scump alongside Ian, “Crim6,” Porter, jokingly proclaim to be, “the kings of first person shooter games.”

“I’ve streamed 10 hour sessions, 3 days in a row,” Scump says, while arguing with Crim over gaming superiority, a quote which displays his competitiveness as well as his commitment to the gaming industry.

But what’s the value of a Professional Gamer? And in today’s world… are gamers a new evolution of athleticism, altogether? Or are Professional Gamers, “athletes,” so to speak? And if so… should the elite players be rewarded with multi-million dollar, mega-sponsorship deals? And what if 24 hour media coverage, spotlighted Scump everyday?

Or what if tax money… was spent on stadiums specifically designed for, “Pro-Gaming?” And these are becoming real questions… sort of… as professional gaming grows both in America and abroad. Nevertheless, it still remains to be seen, as to what level of mainstream consumption that gaming can reach.

So what’s holding gaming back? And what are the odds of Professional Gaming reaching the zenith of other mainstream, professional sports, in America today? And in my opinion… the stuttered growth of, “Professional Gaming,” is a complex issue that reaches into the very fabric of our professional economy, altogether. But to elaborate on that, without a doubt, “Professional Gaming,” can be considered, “a liberal arts profession,” which then begs the question… “how many gamers deserve to go pro?” And… how many people does society benefit by developing, “Professional Gaming Leagues?” Which is to say, the economy doesn’t necessarily need, “Pro Gamers,” globally or domestically but what makes baseball so special?

And furthermore, why does Hockey deserve mainstream credibility and not Professional Gaming? And why aren’t US cities spending hundreds of millions of dollars in tax revenue, on stadiums for Major League Gaming?

But again, “Professional Gaming,” is clearly a, “liberal arts profession,” and as these niche industries grow, curbing unemployment (ie the insurance and legal industries) they also run the risk of creating excessive bills, in people’s mailboxes. but again, to elaborate on that concept these types of, “BS Jobs,” run the risk of inflating the dollar, as well as creating excessive costs, for consumers… even when popularized by the mainstream media!

But a similar economic phenomenon is taking place in, “Fantasy Sports,” today, as well… whereby ESPN analyst Mathew Barry is now making a career out of covering Fantasy Football, a predominately betting game and that almost feels less important to society at large, in my opinion. Nevertheless, the benefits of such niche career paths also create jobs for people like Mathew Barry and the winners of high stakes Fantasy Football, but in turn they also create excessive outlets for people to spend money… IE a 25 dollar bill in the mail every fantasy football season… that millions of Americans are now wasting, every year on Fantasy Sports. Meaning, that in this way, liberal arts professions are a very slippery slope, in terms of rewarding skill-sets and curbing unemployment. Although, in many ways, the music industry is similarly flawed. But let’s return to the original question, does Professional Gaming deserve multi-million dollar sponsorship deals? AND I BELIEVE IT DOES, to a large extent. So… what’s holding the gaming community back? And, what’s stopping the inevitability of gaming’s mainstream growth?

And again, in my opinion, beyond just the liberal arts economic philosophies involved, Pro-Gaming or, “E-Sports,” has failed to reach mainstream success, predominantly due to the gaming communities lack of unity and cohesion. But combating these issues was Amazon… who in 2014, purchased Twitch.tv for 970 million dollars, in an attempt to fix the gaming communities lack of cohesion. And back in 2014, when that Twitch buyout occurred, I initially viewed it as a response to the growth of other American professional sports leagues.

Whereby, when Twitch was first purchased by Amazon for roughly 950m dollars in 2014, I recalled thinking that the move was potentially a retaliation from Silicone Valley, for the 250m dollar contracts… that Nike and the NBA had just begun shelling out to US athletes. However, despite this opinion… or the intentions behind that deal, today Twitch has centralized the gaming community, specifically for gamers of both older and younger audiences, with shooting games and RPG (story telling games) all showcased in one place, right on Twitch.com.

And Twitch’s centralized popularity, has now made Amazon’s 2014 buy-out, seem more equitable/seemingly sensible, 5 years later. Which is to say that Twitch is thriving today and the profits are starting to come back. In fact, the top 20 gamers on Twitch, “gaming athletes so to speak,” now earn between 1 and 5 million dollars / per year, for growing their fan bases, on Twitch.

For example, “Ninja,” the most viewed Twitch.tv gamer… is reportedly making approximately 5 million dollars / per year, for basically making podcasts of himself, while playing video games.

And, “Ninja’s resume,” looks like this;

• Metrics
  • Twitch subscribers – 94,369
  • Average Viewers Per Week – 81,654
  • Average Bit Cheers – 2,636,291
• Revenue
  • Subscription – $3,955,571
  • Ad – $509,521
  • Bit Donations – $316,354.92
  • Average Sponsorship – $600,000
  • Average Estimated YouTube Compensation – $36,000

However, these numbers are a proverbial, “kick in the can,” compared to Twitch.com‘s total value. Although, these statistics beg the question… “when will Professional Gaming reach mainstream success?” And will professional gaming circuit(s) ever reach the credibility of other, “pro sports,” particularly in terms of sponsorship and financing? And what about 24 hour news coverage? And does, “E-Sports,” deserve it’s own Super Bowl level event? Or will Professional Gaming contracts… ever equate to what professional athletes can earn financially?

Because the money’s there, the viewership is growing and for the first time ever, Professional Gamers (and not just video game makers) are making a hefty sum of money, off of these games!

But see for yourselves and check out, “Optic Gaming,” on Twitch or Youtube!

Whereby, Optic Gaming is a very well known, “Professional Gaming Team,” on Twitch, today. Yes, that Optic gaming.

“OpTic Formal.”

“Optic Scump.”

“Scump.”

“Scump.”

“Crim 6, AKA The GOAT.”

And Nade Shot, the kid who started out by working at Mcdonalds… and now has a 6 figure professional gaming contract from none other than Dan Gilbert of the Cleveland Cavaliers.

“WHAT A TEAM..”

“WHAT AN ORGANIZATION.”

“And I just can't say enough about these young men’s intangibles Marv.”

(Like these athletes are 5 year old pet turtles or something.)

But sometimes, I ask myself, are we really having that conversation?

And needless to say, Pro-Gaming or “E-Sports,” is generating massive exposure, despite Major League Gaming’s failure to reach mainstream success, here in the US. Nevertheless, in Asia and particularly in countries like South Korea, the game, “Super Smash Brothers,” has already become a professional skill-set, which receives hefty media coverage and has, “professional ranks.”

So in conclusion, when diagnosing the prospect of, “Pro-Gaming Leagues,” and the implications of a growing gaming culture… I wanted to dig deeper. And that’s when I found this interview, a chat with Ian, “Crimsix,” Porter, who I personally believe has the potential to become, “the next Michael Jordan of pro-gaming,” so to speak.

And in particular when researching this topic, the team, “Optic Gaming,” stood out to me.

And this interview fascinates me… because in this interview Crim says, “Optic stands apart in terms of the rest of the gamers on Twitch,” and he goes on to say that the top 16 Professional COD players, should almost be, ‘white listed’ because it’s not even fair how good they are. Yet this comment comes off to me as a pivot point in the conversation, where Crim is commenting on the status of, “Pro Gamers,” becoming; credible, money making, social influencers.

Yet, Crim also remarks that balancing the need to put out content online, in order to grow the, “sport,” while also keeping his tactics from being exploited by other players competitively, can be trying.

And for those who don’t know, Ian, “Crim6,” Porter, has been playing COD and Halo professionally and semi-professionally, for almost 15 years now but while Ian is one of the game’s most well known players… he has also had to… somewhat unfairly… grow his platform while competing against the best in the world.

But when asked about the gaming companies role in the evolution of, “E-Sports,” Ian defends the gaming companies and says that he believes, “Trey Arc (the company that creates Call of Duty content), is doing a good job of creating content, despite undisclosed, ‘gentlemen’s agreements,’ which are creating rifts amongst elite level gamers.”

He then goes on to note that, “setting explosives in Nuke Town,” is an unfair strategy at the pro level, for the game, “Call of Duty: Black Ops 3,” and that despite the pitfalls of E-sports, unwritten rules have made the games very, very competitive!

yet, gentlemen’s agreements in sports? So your saying there are already, undisclosed, “secretive pacts,” in Pro Gaming? And I wasn’t even going to try to block that dunk…

But with all of that work… that Optic Gaming has put in, it makes sense.

Then Ian also goes on to say that some amateur players, “are skilled enough to play professionally,” however, he also believes that skill alone, does not qualify someone for the Major League Gaming circuit. Ian then goes on to list; “skill, dedication, communication,” and what he calls, “clutch factor,” as reasons why some players inevitably blossom into Professional Gamers, while others do not.

But with very real superstars like Crim and Scump… plus the cohesion of Twitch.tv, what does Pro Gaming need to do, in order to reach the mainstream success of say the NBA, or the NFL? And only time will tell.

But ultimately: “Will the candor of gamers begin to change? Particularly as more and more money enters their sport?”

And as you’ll see here… every team has a deep seeded strategy and desire to win, however, it also appears that while every team works hard, 1 or 2 teams do stand apart.

So check out these, “Optic Scump highlights,” from Youtube and tell me what you think! And decide for yourselves… does, “E-Sports,” deserve mainstream credibility? And will, “a professional gamer,” ever get a 100m dollar sponsorship deal?

Seth “Scump” Abner – Call of Duty Player.

Date of Birth: June 30, 1995.

Age: 23.

United States.

World Ranking: #124 / Out of 10 million+, Call of Duty 4, players.

-William Larsen, Founder of Civilians News.