ESPN president John Skipper not bullish on eSports, so maybe we ought not to expect the network will go all-in anytime soon.
"It’s not a sport -- it’s a competition. Chess is a competition. Checkers is a competition. Mostly, I’m interested in doing real sports."
- ESPN president John Skipper Those are the words of ESPN president John Skipper, speaking at the Code/Media Series: New York conference, as reported by Re/code. However, ESPN and eSports have gotten cozier in the last months. The MLG held a Call of Duty tournament at ESPN's X Games in Austin, which was "highlighted" on ABC and ESPN; ESPN3 streamed Valve's The International Dota 2 tournament online. Still, athletes, sports fans, and -- apparently -- high-powered executives in the sports space don't necessarily consider eSports "sports," and Skipper's remarks point to that barrier. The practical effect it'll have on the further inclusion of eSports in ESPN's lineup is unclear.
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