Why 'esports' are not sports, they are games

Brad Zellerman, from Dunfermline, with his Wimbledon e-Champion trophy. Insets: how Wimbledon and Serena Williams look in the Playstation tournament (Pictures submitted) | Contributed

By becoming the first-ever Wimbledon eChampion, Brad Zellerman, from Dunfermline, has carved his name into the annals of history. Zellerman triumphed in the final of the first-ever such tournament to take place in the home of tennis.

Just to be clear, while he was, in a sense, playing tennis, he was doing so using the TopSpin 2K25 computer program. So he wasn’t relentlessly running about a grass court, swinging a racket expertly, he was controlling a computer ‘avatar’ that did all that for him.

Obviously we would like to congratulate him on his achievement. Triumphing in a prestigious tournament for any kind of game is worthy of high praise.

However, if we may be permitted to demur on one point, please let’s not call this a sport or even an ‘esport’. It is a game, doubtless a good one, but a game nonetheless. Sitting on a couch or a specially designed gaming chair while rapidly moving your thumbs and fingers does not constitute any kind of sport, however skilfully it is done.

That said, very well done Brad!