In his work, The Gutenburg Galaxy: The Making of the Typographic Man, Marshall

McLuhan discusses how in so many ways, changes in society are intrinsically tied to

technological development. (1962, Pg. 41). In many ways, McLuhan understood these trends in

culture, and with the recent developments in video games, it’s hardly surprising that different

elements of the sports-media complex have found their way into the realm of digital play. The

issue brings up the question of, does this count as sport? Do headshots and hadoukens performed

on a large scale, partnered with instant replays and player profiles ultimately legitimate the

Major League Gaming (MLG) as a true sport? That question, and corresponding answer, is

convoluted at best; for while it can be argued that the traits help us classify sport for what it is,

that also brings forth a lot of cultural issues that correlate the issues of play, masculinity, and

sponsorship to video games. It’s within this crucial conjunction that the MLG is seen as an

emulation of other sports leagues that make up the sports landscape.

The first issue to arise is one of play. If the MLG is to be considered a sport, similar to

the NHL, MLB, or NBA; then its claim for authenticity needs to be analyzed alongside theories

of play. For the notions of play tie into values of culture, and in that sense, the MLG is

constructed around the notions of play that make the building blocks of sports. Despite being in a

league, full of sponsorships and endorsements, the fundamental notion of what video games are

is a logical extension of what it means to be considered play. For as Huizinga describes theories

of play, one

feature of Huizinga’s definition of play is this idea of the fantasy world. For as Masters writes,

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 Play occupies a distinct locality and occurs within a limited time. It is bracketed, and as another-

worldly experience, play allows individuals to create alternative worlds and identities far removed

from their everyday lives. The masks and disguises so characteristic of play offer the individual entry

into another world, and in rowdy play, a license for misbehavior. Play is liberating, even when it is

structured. (Masters, 2008; Pg. 857).

Arguably, within the MLG, nothing strays from this fantasy world. It’s a world of team

names and nick names, all to represent the idea of participating in this fantasy world.

Compared to a sport like hockey or football where the sport is rooted in tradition, the MLG

and other professional digital athletic leagues cater to a shifting medium. The cold, harsh

ice or the dewy grass becomes a dynamic environment where anything can occur, for as

Brett Hutchins states:

e-Sport is born in and of media, which alters the parameters of competition in terms of how it is

conducted – on-screen and in digital space – and the dynamics of the ‘game-contest’ which, unlike

football or ice hockey, is determined by a technical interface and the programmed possibilities

contained within a computer game. (Hutchins, 2008; Pg. 857)

It’s important to consider video games as a form of play—not just sport, for as the MLG is put

under the theoretical microscope, it’ll be hard to discern between what is sport and what is play

for arguably the aesthetic and textuality of sports is what sensationalizes and fetishizes the MLG;

which for the video game industry is nothing new considering how games engage in basic

infrastructures of play by creating a world of fantasy for gamers on both the casual, and

professional level, to play in.

Arguably, a huge facet of identity construction in modern sports media is masculinity,

and the fears of those feminine challenges to those ideals. In becoming a viable league, the MLG

adopts a
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lot of the notions of masculinity as seen in the MLB or NFL. One of these is the hegemonic

hierarchy of masculinity that has not only enforced masculine ideals, but also kept women on the

fringes of acceptability. Studies have been done to examine the issues of masculinity in sport;

and by applying the lessons learned in the semiotic analysis of the sports and their advertising;

we’re able to gain the insight into how the MLG emulates that for their audiences. This

emulation of the aesthetics offers more than just instant replays and in the “Televised Sports

Manhood Formula” article by Michael A. Messner he states that:.

“The costs of masculinity...appear to be well worth the price, the boys, and men who are willing to

pay the price always seem to get the glory, the championships...[sports are] historically linked to

hegemonic masculinity where money power, glory and women flow like champagne” (Messner, 2000;

Pg. 392)

Just like in the major sports leagues, masculinity plays a huge part in the MLG. As we’ve

already discussed however, this is not so much a part of what makes video games aspects of

play, but rather, a part of the Sports-Media Complex. For, the MLG is crafted around the idea

that the players are at the top of their game. For as Taylor states, “Players are often described (by

each other, journalists and promoters), as athletes, young men with competitive ‘natures’ whose

desire for competition somehow transfers to, and is satisfied by, competitive gaming.” (Taylor,

2009 ;Pg. 242). These cyber athletes are shown to think of themselves as athletes, along the

same lines of a professional Hockey, Basketball, or Football star. These cyber-athletes then

adopt the narrow viewpoint of masculinity emulated by the MLG from the dominant sports

leagues. The problems then arise, when the narrow

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viewpoint pushes aside any deviancy from the norm. If women are presented within the sport, it

is as either a highly sexualized alternative to the hyper masculinity found within the sport, or as

an athlete struggling for acceptance in the heavily male dominated sport.

The booth babes are an interesting alternative, in many ways, for what they come to

represent is an authenticator. The image of the video game hobby is seemingly less cool then

what it could be. That being said, these booth babes serve a dual purpose in not just reinforcing

the masculinity but by also, by letting “a few cute girls into the broadcast, tournament

organisers—with much invested in selling gaming as legitimate sport—help push the message

that gamers, despite the stereotype, are not nerdy” (Kane, 2008; Pg. 232). While they reinforce

masculinity, the booth babes also serve to sexualize the image of cyber-athletes and the MLG. In

doing so, the league then implements women to authenticate and legitimize the league; for, “the

presence of highly sexualised women ensures for the male attendees that their heterosexual

desire is firmly secured and on display: even more so, given that these women are ‘available’ to

take pictures of/with.” (Taylor, 2009; Pg. 248).

While booth babes reinforce masculine ideologies and act as a way of legitimizing the

MLG, there is also a marginal group of women who participate in the sport. Women in the MLG,

often face hardship in working for acceptance within the sport. In the Taylor article, their

ethnography focuses on one female player in this digital league; the author discusses how Fatal

Fantasy has a lot to work against to gain legitimacy in a heavily masculine league,

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 “Cultures of both mainstream sports and gaming, competitive Halo 3 is configured as the exclusive

domain of young men. [Fatal Fantasy’s] participation further stresses that there is nothing in terms of

gameplay—the technological skills required, the intensive communication and coordination demanded

of team play, or the stresses of competition—that are ‘inherently’ masculine. Instead, it is the

discourse that links competitive gaming with a misogynistic (and homophobic) sports tradition that

makes her identity as a ‘good girl gamer’ so tenuous and contingent.” (Taylor, 2009; Pg. 245)

While there is nothing apparent in a game like Halo 3 or Call of Duty 4 that makes it impossible

for women to play, the hyper masculinity found in sports culture is carried forward from other

sports leagues. I posed the question at the beginning of this paper and asked if leagues like the

MLG were a true sport. I added that the answer was a bit more convoluted then what may

initially appear. While this form of digital play is turned into a huge spectacle through the

emulation of the sports-media complex, it’s arguable that this brings forward two sides of the

argument. These video games are, by their very nature, rooted in Huizinga’s theories of play; and

yet these aesthetics also bring along hegemonic hierarchies of masculinity. This proves to stiffen

the notions of play that are so readily available in the video game medium. Turning the medium

into a sport of spectacle.

One aspect of professional sport is sponsorship. By branding themselves with logos,

athletes can essentially brand themselves. As is the case with notions of masculinity; notions of

sponsorship, and the issues involved with that, come to light in respect to the MLG. Advertising

and sponsorship isn’t new within the medium of video games. Yet, this new level of sponsorship

patterns after what

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we’re used to seeing in leagues like the NFL or NHL where brand identities are intrinsically tied

to the sport and the player. These sponsorships, I argue, are a part of creating a brand. A brand

where the notions of masculinity are blended together to create a hyper masculine brand name,

similar to something like the WWE or UFC; as Arvidsson writes, brands are dependent on

“people’s ability to create trust, affect and shared meanings: their ability to create something in

common” (Arvidsson, 2005, Pg. 236). The major problem for the legitimacy of the MLG is that

it is entirely run by corporations. To think of it, the games provided come from a corporation

(Halo from Microsoft, Street Fighter IV or Marvel VS Capcom 2 from Capcom, Call of Duty 4

from Activision), the monitors are provided by a corporation, and even down to the players who

themselves are promoted from the likes of Dr. Pepper or Mountain Dew. For example, “The

MLG website offers a series of training videos by a Dr. Pepper-sponsored player, ‘TSquared’, in

which he explains how to improve one’s game through working on one’s “shot”. (Taylor, 2009

;Pg. 243). This illustrates just how the MLG is not only embedded with capitalist ideologies, but

is also constructed entirely around them. This is similar to the WWE, where entire notions of

sponsorship combined with the prevalent notions of hyper-masculinity make for a “dramatic

spectacle[...]presented to audiences in almost a seamless package” (Messner, 2000;Pg. 390-391).

The problem that arises from this is that as an emulation of professional sport, the difference

between watching a Patriots and Colts game and watching Fatal Fantasy play is that the MLG is

a construction, an elaboration of the LAN parties

6
that have come to become a subculture of gamers. Unlike other sports where masculinity and

sponsorship are issues that plague the sport, the MLG is an entire construct created from

corporate methodologies; similar to other narrative based sports like the WWE.

In examining the question of whether leagues of digital play are considered sport, we

stumble upon greater issues of identity, both from the point of view of gender and brand identity.

Video games in themselves offer a digital means to express play, and to discover new ways in a

digital environment to express themselves in ways that they wouldn’t outside of a fantasy world.

With this though, that idea of play has been commoditized by corporations. By adding play-by-

plays, instant replays, player profiles, and so much more; the idea of what video games come to

represent, are transformed into the hyper-masculine and corporate representations of sport

evident in modern professional video game competitions. As Taylor puts it, “MLG and WCG

tournaments operate like large-scale LANs, where the structure, rules and games played are

sponsored and run by corporations.” (Taylor, 2009 ;Pg. 241). Unfourtanetly, the league is seen

as the pinnacle of professional video gaming. In the case of Lil Poison, a popular player who was

introduced to the league at the age of four; in his biography, it states that:

At the age of 9 years old LiL Poison competed in a 1vs1 Boost Mobile Challenge and qualified for the

Championships in Las Vegas. He entered the event seated 1st place out of over 3500 gamers. He

placed 3rd place overall. Besides the Boost Challenge LiL Poison has participated in three one verses

one challenges in 2007 and was unbeaten at every event in which over 200 challengers participated.

(International Federation of Library Associations, 2003)

It’s interesting to note how from such an early age, this child’s version of play has been

transformed into a game of stats and competition. If I were to research this further, I would

be interested in doing a qualitative research study into how these players feel, about having

something rooted in play be commoditised. As it stands however, the MLG stands as a

major corporate identity that pushes aside deviance from the hyper-masculine perspective

that challenges it, which makes it a dream or goal for young boys. It’ll be interesting to

track this league, to see whether it gains more popularity, or reverts back to the elements of

play that make video games so fun. For as we stand now, capitalism hides what the true

meanings of these games truly are.

References:

Arvidsson, Adam (2005) “Brands: A critical perspective” in Journal of Consumer Culture 5.2:

Pg. 235-258.
Hutchins, Brett (2008) "Signs of meta-change in second modernity: the growth of e-sport and

the World Cyber Games." New Media & Society 10(6), Pg. 851-869.

Kane, M. (2008) Game boys: professional videogaming’s rise from the basement to the big time,

Viking, New York.

Masters, Patricia Anne (2008) "Play Theory, Playing and Culture." Sociology Compass 2(3), Pg.

856-869.

McLuhan, Marshall (1962) The Gutenberg Galaxy: The Making of Typographic Man; 1st Ed.:

Univ. of Toronto

Lil Poison. (2008) Lil Poison: Worlds Youngest Professional Player Retrieved April 10th, 2010,

from http://lilpoison.com/

Taylor, Nicholas, Jen Jenson & Suzanne de Castell (2009) "Cheerleaders/booth babes/ Halo

hoes: pro-gaming, gender and jobs for the boys" Digital Creativity 20(4), Pg. 239 - 252.

"The Televised Sports Manhood Formula" by Michael Messner, Michele Dunbar

and Darnell Hunt, Pg.227-245 in Critical Readings: Sport, Culture and the Media.