To me, “sports” means games of physical exertion. I don’t call Magic etc. sports. I also take the question to be about playing them, not watching them.
Mostly, I don’t like those kind of sports because I’m very bad at them (I tend to be worse than the typical beginner) and I’m unwilling to invest time and effort to improve.
Having a game that’s enjoyable to watch is probably important as well. Being watchable seems to be a huge draw and I know that games that want to become e-sports are deliberately made in a way that makes just watching the game enjoyable.
To me, “sports” means games of physical exertion. I don’t call Magic etc. sports. I also take the question to be about playing them, not watching them.
Mostly, I don’t like those kind of sports because I’m very bad at them (I tend to be worse than the typical beginner) and I’m unwilling to invest time and effort to improve.
Having a game that’s enjoyable to watch is probably important as well. Being watchable seems to be a huge draw and I know that games that want to become e-sports are deliberately made in a way that makes just watching the game enjoyable.