Interesting Pastimes That Are Becoming Mainstream Sports

There was a time when online sports would have been considered nothing more than an unfortunate juxtaposition. However, times have changed, and with the widescale proliferation of e-sports and competitive computer gaming, there has been a marked shift in perceptions and acceptance of various activities as a sport. The following are the online sports that are becoming mainstream.

The idea of something that is mainstream is about the level of spread or geographic uptake of the activity or trend. The spread of sport over the internet and engagement in online sports has managed to take a number of previously niche activities and pastimes and turn them into global or mainstream ‘sporting’ activities.

Computer games

Video games and computer games were, for a long time in their history, regarded as quite a niche activity played by the few introverted gamers who preferred to be indoors and were quite solitary. They were not seen as providing any intrinsic benefits and were accepted as simply part of a minority pastime. This has changed rapidly in the last decade or two, and gaming has now become one of the most mainstream activities that there is on the internet.

As the technology became more affordable, and some would argue the marketing more successful, game consoles and related games became a must-have for many. Furthermore, the improvement of cloud computing and cross platform gaming has seen a huge growth in online gamers and entire online tribes and societies linked and related to the games that they play. No longer is the pastime seen as simply gaming or playing games, but competitive gaming is now seen as a sport and has taken a much more prominent and positive position in global society as a whole.

Remote control and drone racing

There have always been those who raced RC cars as a hobby, but the rise of the short clip and YouTube, as well as social media, saw the rise of RC and drone racing across the globe. Prices have dropped, and the availability of drones and powerful RC vehicles has seen the development of leagues and sponsorship for these once niche pastimes.

They have both arguably moved into the sports category and are now watched and followed in a much more mainstream fashion. There is an international drone racing league, RC tracks that have regular live-streamed races with huge followings, Facebook pages, and more dedicated to these races.

Word games

Scrabble has always been a top game, and crosswords in the local papers were a regular thing, so for many, word games have always been a great pastime. However, for a while, they were in decline as the internet provided a much more exciting array of games and opportunities for media and entertainment.

The word game was relegated to daytime television and dropped into obscurity. Social media and smart mobile technology, oh, and Wordle have changed all this, and the word game has made a notable return to the forefront of online gaming and sport. Word challenges that are live streamed, spelling bees on social media, and anything similar to Wordle and as fun or fast have become some of the main pastimes for many.

Card playing

Watching others play cards online or on their social media feeds has become a huge trend. Just as watching others game on Twitch, you can also watch live poker, blackjack, and just about any other professional card game on the internet. In fact, a trend has been for players to share the games, and there’s great excitement when anyone wins.

This has also led to the growth and proliferation of the online casino where celebrities and professional players alike can all play the top games for top prizes. Whether it’s classic table games like poker, blackjack, and baccarat, or luck-based games like roulette and slots, these old-time favorites are now more popular and accessible than ever before, thanks to the online casino realm.

Casino jackpot games command particular attention these days and have become somewhat of a cult pastime, even among people who consider themselves professionals. A jackpot is the largest potential win on any slot machine or slot-style game, with sites like www.cafecasino.lv/casino/jackpots offering many types. Some casino jackpots run daily, others weekly, and others monthly or even quarterly, with the longer running ones usually offering the highest prize pots – but are harder to win as a result. Whatever the jackpot – especially the big ones – players can expect the pros to be vying for the top prizes on many casino platforms.

It’s not just purely luck-based games that have garnered attention in this way either; gambling games that demand skill have also become monumental competitive pastimes – much like how chess is a worldwide phenomenon with teams competing with one another all around the planet. With the likes of global poker world tours and even televised competitions, the gambling and card-playing sector is expected to grow and become further entrenched in popular culture.

The question is, though, whether those at the top of these sports will be able to find the requisite sport funding sponsorship and support to progress and how far the social acceptance of these as mainstream sports will continue. There have always been niche activities that make it to the fore, but the ones discussed herein have all done so based on the current tech, the internet, and social media. They have not necessarily been considered mainstream only because they offer a means to get paid, but arguably because they have a significant sized following that has developed online.