By WILL ARNOTT

The roar of the crowd is almost deafening as thousands pack a stadium to cheer on their team. At home, millions tune in across the globe to see the sporting prowess live.

But this isn’t the Super Bowl or the Olympic games: It’s the World Championship of the popular video game League of Legends.

The eSports circuit has been booming over the last decade, turning into a $612 million industry with over 130 million people tuning in to watch people play video games at a competitive level. With prize pools now reaching the $20 million mark, eSports has become a serious business, but Australia is lagging behind.

Harrison Nguyen started following eSports in high school, particularly League of Legends (or LoL). He now plays the game at a competitive level for the team Alpha Sydney in the Oceanic region.

For the 18-year-old, it’s not about the prizes or online fame. Instead, he enjoys “the idea of being up on stage and proving myself. Not for money, rather for fun and the pure enjoyment of being a team.”

A victory in League of Legends requires precise teamwork and individual skill, as two teams of five battle to destroy the other’s home base. Each player chooses a unique champion, who all have special abilities and roles on the team. A match can last anywhere from 20 minutes to over an hour and has multiple layers of mechanics allowing competitive play to flourish.

There is a lot more to the game than just having fun. To be accepted into the team, Nguyen had to undergo tryouts like any other athlete.

“The trials included a set of games, and even an official pro match to prove my worth in the actual environment,” he said. There was even a personality test with the team’s analyst to make sure he’d be a good fit.

It only got more intense from there. “We practised almost every day … after each game there was a rigorous overview and analysis,” he said. “We had lessons from another coach overseas, individual weekly interviews with the manager regarding team atmosphere and had to update on personal life to the sports psychologist.”

Nguyen is no stranger to the professional sports environment, having played Australian rules football and cricket for a local team. “I’ve spent roughly the same amount of time in both eSport and physical sport. They’re similar in the aspects of morale, teamwork and individual skill,” he said.

Even though eSports is growing as a business, there’s still a stigma attached to it. “People still think that games are a waste of time, particularly my parents,” he said. “Even though more and more people playing games, it still isn’t as accepted as physical sports.”

Australia’s low population density has meant the eSport circuit is struggling to catch up to the rest of the world. Teams often have players – who need to use the internet to train and compete – scattered all over the country.

Nguyen’s connection, in particular, has given him some trouble with lag, which could potentially cost the team a match. “The oceanic pro scene is played completely online, which has its pros and cons,” he said. “Online matches are much more convenient for players, but shouldn’t have to be.”

For Nguyen, the lack of exposure and sponsorship from the game’s developers, Riot Entertainment, is holding the scene back. “Not enough tournaments are being hosted, which is actually more beneficial than you think,” he said.

Most tournaments in Australia have small prizes, sometimes even in the form of in-game currency instead of cash. “Because of Riot’s lack of commitment and resources to the oceanic pro scene, there will never be an extremely good oceanic team. If there’s no incentive to it, no resources, no infrastructure, Oceania will never develop,” he said.

“Talent isn’t being grown or nurtured, no one wants to push up and become a pro because the risks outweigh the reward by a long margin,” Nguyen said.

Because of the smaller population in the local scene, Australian players are moving overseas to North America and Europe to continue their careers.

It’s not all doom and gloom for eSports, as it is becoming increasingly popular at the university level, with League of Legends’ addition to this year’s Australian University Games.

Eric Lee, the coach of Monash University’s League of Legends team, helped lead TeamMonash to the national Grand Final, which will be played in Perth on September 28.

“At a university level, Riot has been doing a lot to help grow the community,” he said. “Aside from funding the oceanic scene … Riot has actively been supporting universities by providing us with ‘swag’, virtual currency, tournament funding, assisting us with hosting events and trying to build and eSports community at our campuses.”

Monash itself has also been helping its eSports team rise to the challenge. “TeamMonash has been extremely supportive to us, possibly even more than some of their physical sport teams,” Lee said.

“They have gone through the whole tournament experience with us from the very beginning even giving some assistance with our qualifiers, proving us with TeamMonash jerseys and having photo shoots with us.”

Lee prefers to view eSports as competitive gaming instead of a sport. “Some people at first struggle to accept that LoL and eSports is an actual thing, especially when saying we’re playing it in a university competition,” he said.

“It’s mainly the mainstream media that creates a stigma about eSports that we’re basement dwellers and that it’s not a proper sport.” Lee notes that when people see the hard work and effort they put it, “they accept and embrace it”.

The main reason why Australia is lags behind the rest of the world in eSports is funding. “Essentially, money will help improve the eSports scene as it encourages more people to reach the highest level,” Lee said.

“Oceania has an abundance of skilled and dedicated players, however, there’s not enough money going around to justify the workload.”

Australian eSports is growing, with SBS broadcasting tournaments on TV and Crown Casino hosting competitions with prize pools of up to $70,000.

However, when compared to Asia, Europe and North America, Australia is years behind. With such a huge gap, home grown talent is leaving the country to pursue their dreams of glory in the digital arena in countries that recognise them.

Eric Lee can be contacted at  https://twitter.com/eSportsEric and https://www.facebook.com/ESportsAtMonash/