Everyone loves sports. Basketball, baseball, football, soccer, hockey, tennis, volleyball, League of Legends… Wait, what?

The U.S. Government has recently recognized League of Legend (LOL) as an official sport, able to compete in world championships and receive sports visas for players from other countries.

That bodes the question as to whether becoming a professional video game player is anywhere near as difficult as becoming a professional physical athlete in a more recognized sport.

“Professional-level gaming takes just as much skill and focus as football or baseball,” Asa Wolrehammer, a local video game enthusiast said. “The only real difference is the competition field.”

“It should not have been given the title of an actual sport. Normally people associate “sports” with a game that has a ball in it, and League of Legends does not require a ball,” Nicholas Payne, local strategy gamer and psychologist, said. “Also with a lot of sports, you are up and active. As for people coming into the US on a visa, to just play League of Legends, that needs to stop.”

Obviously playing LOL professionally does not involve much physical activity, so many wonder what would the defining factor be in LOL becoming a sport.

“LOL is a very sophisticated game competitively, and the amount of skill required to compete is phenomenal,” Jacob Pourte, a local hobby shop employee and LOL trainer said. “It isn’t something you can just be good at automatically. It takes patience, practice, and a desire to achieve greatness. That is what athleticism is truly about.”

As a recognized sport, LOL players from other countries can now obtain sports visas to live in the United States and play professionally.

“Competitive gaming is not what video games are about. I think USA is the only country that endorses competitive video game playing,” Hans Lee, a student at Digipen Institute of Technology, said. “All the little kids who wanted to be astronauts and the president now just want to sit on their rumps, and say they either wanna make games or play games as a career.”

The LOL season three World Championships took place at the Staples Center on October fourth, in Los Angeles. Top teams have been attracting seven-figure sponsorship deals and annual salaries for the best players average around the $100,000 mark, according to Polygon.com.