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There are no bats, balls or baskets but there's no doubt the growing industry of eSports, a type of competitive video game, has become a global spectator sport.
从事电子竞技无需准备球棒、球或者篮筐。但毫无疑问，这项电子游戏的竞技赛事已成长为一项全球范围的观赏性运动。
In fact, the games are very similar to traditional, professional sports in presentation and recent financial success. eSports tournaments have sold out major stadiums across the world, top eSports "athletes" (as they're called) make up to seven figures annually and corporate sponsors are pouring millions into the industry.
事实上电子竞技与传统的职业竞技比赛在表现形式和商业盈利上几无二致。电子竞技锦标赛在全球各大运动场馆都备受关注，而顶尖的电子竞技"运动员"每年的收入高达七位数，企业赞助商也不惜血本地投入大量资金。
"This is the type of content where people watch it online. They watch for long periods. And advertisers love that. They need to be able to get their products and services in front of the millennial audience, which is really hard to market to," Steve Arhancet, co-owner of Team Liquid in Los Angeles, told Fox News.
洛杉矶Team Liquid战队的合伙人Steve Achancet在接受福克斯新闻采访时表示："人们在网络上收看电子竞技的比赛。观众收看这些比赛有很长一段时间了，这正是广告商的最爱，他们需要在80后观众面前展示自己的产品和服务。以前这样的市场营销是很难实现的。"
Industry experts estimate eSports revenues could come close to half a billion dollars this year. Games like 'League of Legends,' a free-to-play strategy game created by Riot Games based in West Los Angeles, California, are wildly popular. There are full-time players, teams, coaches, trainers, broadcasters and corporate sponsors.
行业专家预计今年电子竞技行业的收益将达到5亿美元。总部位于加州西洛杉矶的拳头游戏公司出品的即时战略游戏《英雄联盟》广受欢迎，而类似的游戏还有很多。目前该行业有很多全职的选手、战队、教练、训练师以及主播，还得到了许多企业的赞助。
The youngest professional players are 17-years-old. Their parents have let them put their high school educations on hold to pursue such a lucrative hobby for several years.
世界上最年轻的职业选手年仅17岁。这些选手的父母允许自己的孩子放弃高中的学业，转而从事这项吸金能力极强的"业余爱好"。
"A lot of people get like 20 thousand, 30 thousand, 40 thousand people watching them a night and when you're doing that you get to basically run commercials and you get money off commercials," Hai Lam, one of the most talented eSports athletes in the world, said.
世界上最顶尖选手之一的Hai Lam说："大概有2万、3万甚至4万多的观众整晚都在收看比赛。其实在这样做的时候，你就是在从事基本的商业行为，而且通过这样的商业行为挣到了钱。"
eSports athletes and teams earn money from salaries, merchandise sales, tournament winnings, corporate sponsors and from online streaming.
电竞选手和战队平时的收入来源包括工资、周边商品销售、在线视频流量的分成，赛事奖金以及企业赞助。
The industry is now discussing if certain substances should be banned. In the meantime, investors see eSports as a thriving industry that continues to catapult its way to record setting profits year after year.
该行业内部已经开始探讨是否应禁止服用某些药物。而在投资者的眼中，电竞业蓬勃发展，每年都在刷新去年创下的收益记录。
Even colleges are getting into the action. UC Irvine recently announced its intention to create a sports arena, offer eSports scholarships to students and hire a coach.
一些大学甚至也将参与其中。加州大学欧文分校最近宣布，有意为学生建立起一座电子竞技平台，提供电子竞技奖学金并雇佣教练。
