Is Major League Gaming a Spectator Sport?

One of the greatest things about modern video games is they’re fun to watch. It’s always been amusing to see Fred Savage’s younger brother totally pwn some 8-bit side-scroller, but unless you’re in the presence of a true old school Nintendo wizard, it’s not fun to suffer through someone sucking at Mario Bros.

Newer titles and consoles don’t have that problem. No matter how bad someone is at Call of Duty: Black Ops, the graphics and gameplay make it entertaining enough to sit back and enjoy the action until it’s your turn to hold the controller. And if the person who’s killing bad guys or noobs on screen is actually good at what he/she does, it makes the spectating all the better.

Don’t believe me? We’ll I’ve got at least 22.5 million video views that prove my point. That’s how many streams Major League Gaming delivered throughout the weekend of June 3 through June 5 at its Columbus Pro Circuit event. By comparison, the 2011 Superbowl averaged 111 million viewers on Fox and the 2011 NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Tournament received an average of 9.1 million daily viewers

Over 16,000 fans and 1,300 players descended upon the capital of Ohio, while viewers from over 164 countries tuned into watch the live streamed games from their computers at home. When the three-day competition came to a close after Losira lost to MMA in the 40-some-minute Grand final match of Starcraft 2, more than 2.2 million hours of total online video had been consumed.

If the fast-paced player vs. player “military science fiction real-time strategy video game” is up your alley or the commentary from the casters keeps you engaged, feel free to make your way to Anaheim on July 29 through July 31 for the next stop in the MLG circuit. Or stay tuned to MajorLeagueGaming.com and catch the the action with tens of millions of other gaming enthusiasts and spectators online.