Are eSports competitiors Athletes?

Hello fans of the Community board! This is my first time trying out the new discussion area. Despite the previous uproar over the new format, I hope some people are enjoying the new layout. Personally, I hope both the GD and the Community portions are allowed to work concurrently, as they both have their advantages.

Anyway, back to what I wanted to come here for. I'm sure most of you have heard that LCS players have been recognized as professional athletes under the INS visa standards. However, it is difficult to know what that exactly means.

I want to share a research paper on what exactly that means.

Long story short:

-For athletes to get their P-1 visa they must be "internationally recognized."

-The INS provided two elements that may prove "international recognition" 1) a tendered contract with a major United States sports league and 2) various forms of documentation.

-That means the LCS needed to prove it was a major United States sports league. Proving this can be difficult, and it would be cumbersome to reproduce that information here.

If you are curious to read the rest of the research, you can read the full paper here: http://wp.me/p3Jzz2-2g