Super Bowl Showdown: Is esports or the NFL a better career choice?

Today is Super Bowl 50, and about 120 million people are expected to watch the Denver Broncos square off against the Carolina Panthers. That’s one-third of all Americans, many of whom have never played pigskin, watching one professional football game. And yet there’s another sport that in just a few years has become played by nearly every child in America: video games.

This sport’s version of the Super Bowl, the World Championships for League of Legends held last year, drew 36 million viewers worldwide. It’s an audience number that’s sure to increase dramatically in the years ahead. While this growth is encouraging for esports as an industry — it hit $748 million last year — it also reveals some of the problems pro gamers share with their NFL brethren.