Paul Tagliabue really does not seem to like esports.
According to the former NFL chief executive, “things are being called sports that have nothing to do with sports or with the values of sport. I read about esports, and it’s not sports. The only physical activity is pushing keys.”
In an interview at the University of Michigan’s Ford School of Public Policy with Michigan athletic director Warde Manuel, Tagliabue decried esports as a non-sport where competitors are not exerting themselves physically, emotionally and psychologically.
“Sport is a microcosm of life — you prepare, you compete, you win or lose,” Tagliabue said in the interview. “You evaluate, you re-evaluate, you re-prepare, you recompete. That’s what life’s about, getting yourself better and better, and doing it against competition that’s demanding.”
Tagliabue’s words are at odds with the current sports climate in the United States and globally. The NFL’s ratings troubles and on- and off-the-field scandals have been well-documented, while esports have continued to grow rapidly across the U.S., U.K. and mainland Europe, as well as other areas of the world.
There are also a bounty of recent technologies developed to help esports players improve their game and maintain a healthy lifestyle. Innovations such as eye-tracking, neuroscience-based training, and vision metrics are just a few examples.
The former commissioner’s statements also contradict the NFL’s current involvement in esports. It was announced in August that all 32 NFL teams will have esports player reps for Madden tournaments that will feature live finals events during the Pro Bowl and Super Bowl weekends. Current commisioner Roger Goodell even hailed the fan engagement opportunity esports represents to the NFL.
Seattle Seahawks owner Paul Allen, who co-founded Microsoft, recently invested through his firm Vulcan Capital in two Seattle-area esports ventures.
But Tagliabue said in his interview that esports don’t come close to being similar to real sports like football, especially in the educational arena. “We have the bigger issues of combining sport with education, which are a challenge for our society, but the delivery of our product is both a benefit and I’m not so sure it’s an undiluted benefit.”
While esports in the college sphere has its benefits and issues, as does anything else, investment in esports — financial and otherwise — is increasing exponentially among the NCAA and professional sports leagues, as well as the Olympics and to the high school level. Notably, the NBA and some of its teams, like the Philadelphia 76ers, have been in on esports for several years.
For Tagliabue’s part, he admitted his own “lack of technological sophistication” and said he was open to being educated after he and the president of Georgetown University traded emails about esports and college.
Perhaps that conversation will help Tagliabue understand the place esports occupies in American sports right now.
