Spectators have watched their favorite athletes compete for dominance since ancient Greek times in the arena, on the pitch or on a court, but soon a new sport may introduce a new realm of spectator sporting: cyberspace.

In this sport, people do not cheer for touchdowns and slam dunks. Instead, fans cheer as an image of an alien sorcerer casts thunderbolts across the ranks of the opponent’s soldiers on screen and spectators watch nervously as an invisible soldier guides a small nuclear missile into the base of his opponent. For some players of Starcraft II: Wings of Liberty, a popular computer real-time-strategy game, this possibility that mainstream sports fans could accept a video game as a spectator sport, or “e-sport,” is a dream.

The video game community has already embraced the possibility. In fact, there is even an N.C . State Starcraft II: Wings of Liberty club that participated in this the College Starleague Starcraft II: Wings of Liberty tournament this year.

Beginning in 2009 with collegiate players from 25 different North American universities competing in games of  Starcraft , the College Starleague continues to grow. In the fifth season that concluded earlier this month, the College Starleage attracted more than 240 university teams from both the U.S . and Canada.

This year Jerred Miklowcic , a senior in computer science at the University of North Carolina, participated in the College Starleague and garnered enough fans to win a chance to play in a tournament against two professional Starcraft II: Wings of Liberty players on June 2-3. The games were played in front of more than 150 people and more than 7000 watched online. Although Miklowcic lost all four games, he has not lost any passion for the game.

“I love the feeling of practicing and improving at games,” MIklowcic said. “I love the community based around e-sports.”

For Neil Shah, a senior in computer science and coordinator of N.C . State’s Collegiate Starleague club, this feeling is one that he can relate to. Shah, who has watched countless hours of Starcraft online and devoted up to seven hours a day to practicing Starcraft II: Wings of Liberty, believes that the possibility of a widespread acceptance of e-sports could mean an acceptance of students like him who may have never felt any passion for traditional sports.

While fans of physical sports were excited for the Super Bowl or March Madness, Shah and his friends fulfilled their competitive urges by watching Starcraft II: Wings of Liberty tournaments like the Global Starcraft II League.

“We used to rent projectors from the library,” Shah said. “Global Starcraft League would be broadcasted at like 4 or 5 in the morning and we would just sit there and watch Global Starcraft League on a wall. With the projector, it was awesome.”

When Shah watches Starcraft played at a competitive level, he not only appreciates the spectacle of it, but he also believes e-sports has potential to make an impact in ways that more physical sports have not been able to.

“I watch tons of streams to watch better players and you get to see all the better players at events such as Major League Gaming which is such an informal kind of scene.” Shah said. “It’s not like a football game where people might really like players on the team but never actually get to meet them or say, ‘hi’ to them or anything. At MLG , you can literally just walk up to one of the best players in the nation and just have a conversation with them.”

In addition to accessibility to the top players, Shah says he has been able to meet many other fans over online communities like teamliquid.net , a site devoted to the Starcraft scene. At any given hour, teamliquid.net has almost 10,000 active members online. George Zhao, a junior in business administration at the UNC-Chapel Hill, is one of the many organizers that keep the website running.

“Gaming communities aren’t really well-known for their polite mannerisms and professional behavior, but I do say the Starcraft community, with teamliquid.net as the flagship, leads a revolution in convention,” Zhao said. “I’ve made so many connections and friends through teamliquid.net.”

Perhaps, with Starcraft II, the gaming community can redefine themselves amongst themselves and among other sports.