Over the past two decades, online gaming has exploded in popularity, largely driven by advancements in technology and internet connectivity. This growth has given rise to a new industry – competitive gaming, or “esports” – where players compete professionally against others for prize money and fame. Early Tournaments Lay the GroundworkIn the early 2000s, esports started gaining traction as tournaments began to emerge for popular strategy games like StarCraft and first-person shooters like Counter-Strike. The advent of live-streaming services such as Twitch allowed these competitions to be broa…