Does pride, not money, spur growth in esports?

MSSA's 2015 Protea eSports Team

As prize money for esports (or egames) continues to rise,  the question of whether it is pride or prize-money that is king in the growth of the game becomes more and more pertinent.

However, this is not a problem that  only affects esports.

Indeed, all sports have  been through this - even the Olympics.

When the Olympic  movement started, there were those who wanted professionals to compete in such games.

However, it was the will of those who only wanted amateurs to compete that  held sway.

Only after the retirement of IOC President Avery Brundage in 1972, were the Olympic amateurism rules steadily relaxed, until being completely abandoned in the 1990s.

Even in the 2016 Summer Olympics, professional boxers were allowed to compete in boxing, though amateur fight rules are still used for the tournament.

As far as I recall the last amateur team to participate in the FIFA World Cup was in Argentina in1978.

Thus the fight between pride and money is indeed a long one, and is as old as the concept  of organised sport itself.

Thus while some seemingly good-hearted individuals  want to see egames move towards only being pride, I feel that such a move is totally misguided.

IeSF also fully understands where eSports has been, and where it is going. As a result IeSF skillfully combines the best of both pride and money to create a sustainable future.   

One cannot turn back the clock, and all sporting bodies have to move forward, and stay in line with the societies that they represent. There has to be a compromise between pride and money as it is extremely difficult for amateurs to deliver the same results as those produced by professionals.

Even the Olympic movement knows that!