US to Officially Recognize eSports athletes
US Government to recognise League of Legends players as professional athletes
In an interview with GameSpot's League of Legends reporter Travis, Riot Games Director of eSports Magus and Riot's Nick Allen divulged details of the US Government now recognising some eSports competitiors as Professional Atheletes. This will allow players to use Professional Athelete as their title on a work visa in the states.
When promoted with the question, Nick Allen explained:
"The United States government recognizes League of Legends pro players as professional athletes and award visas to, essentially, work in the United States under that title. This is ground breaking for eSports, I mean now we can start looking at international players when they come over, it's a much easier process because they're actually recognized by the government. This is a huge thing."
Upon further questioning Nick continued:
"Yes, this was a lengthy process. We had a lot of people fighting for this, it wasn't something that happened overnight. This is constant back and forth of like "Show us more proof, is this realistic?" Eventually it got to the point where "OK, we have no real reason to say no because this is legitimate."
This has long been a goal for the eSport community, where competitors travelling to and from torunaments are often held up by secuirty on their business purposes. As Nick states, this is only the begining and more work is to be done for eSports to be officially recognised throughout the world.
During this interview, Magus and Nick also talk about the newly revealed details to hold the Grand Finals in the Staples Center. Be sure to check it out.