What is esports?
Esports is organized competitive video gaming: professional teams and players competing in League of Legends, Dota 2, Counter-Strike, Valorant, Rocket League, EA Sports FC, fighting games like Street Fighter and Tekken, and battle royales — before stadium crowds and audiences in the tens of millions online.[1] [2]
Who governs esports? Nobody — and that is the point
Esports has no federation in the sporting sense because the games are private property. Riot Games owns League of Legends and Valorant and runs their leagues; Valve owns Dota 2 and Counter-Strike; each publisher sets its own competitive rules, franchising and calendar. The IESF organizes national-team competition with 140+ member federations, but it cannot govern titles it does not own. This is the structural fact that distinguishes esports from every other sport on this site.[2] [3]
The biggest competitions
- The League of Legends World Championship — esports' biggest annual event by audience.[2]
- The International — Dota 2's championship, famous for crowdfunded prize pools that have exceeded $40 million.[4]
- The Counter-Strike Majors — the FPS scene's tournament of record.[4]
- The Esports World Cup — the multi-title mega-event, in Paris for 2026.[5]
- The IESF World Esports Championships — the national-team format.[3]
Esports and the Olympics
The IOC ran Olympic Esports Weeks and has announced a full Olympic Esports Games, with Saudi Arabia to host the first edition — a partnership that drew criticism over both the kingdom's human-rights record and the question of which games could ever fit Olympic values (shooters are the obvious problem). Meanwhile esports has been a medal sport at the Asian Games since 2022.[3] [5]
How is esports awarded?
- World championship titles per game — Worlds, TI, the Majors.[4]
- League standings and franchise contracts — the publisher-run professional records.[2]
- Prize-money earnings — publicly tracked per player and team, esports' most-cited metric.[4]
- National-team selection through IESF member federations.[3]
References
- Encyclopaedia Britannica — Esports. Accessed August 2026.
- Riot Games esports — League of Legends esports. Accessed August 2026.
- IESF — International Esports Federation. Accessed August 2026.
- Liquipedia — esports tournaments & earnings. Accessed August 2026.
- Esports World Cup — official site. Accessed August 2026.