Starcraft 2 is a great competitive game that requires sport like skill to excel at. Husky's definitely one of the most energetic casters but you should check out Day[9]'s Daily podcast for a glimpse behind the curtain.

http://blip.tv/day9tv

I watch Starcraft games narrated by HD and am definitely engrossed.

My point is not that it's boring but rather it's an annoying comparison. I like watching Starcraft games and the Stanley Cup playoffs. For a site to tell me that one is better than the other is unnecessary.

I like HackerNews better than Digg. Does HN need the slogan: Better than Digg?

I think the gp comment was rolling his eyes, not because Starcraft is bad, but because the term "better than real sports" implies that competitive Starcraft is not a real sport.

My point isn't that people aren't entitled to feel that one is better than the other. My point is that it's egregious to feel that one HAS to be better than the other.

It'd be like my brand of iced tea having the slogan, "Better than Nestea" or if my J.Crew shirt said, "better than Target."

Like I said in another comment, I love watching the Stanley Cup playoffs and watching Starcraft games narrated by HDStarcraft. But I don't need for a company to tell me explicitly that one is better than the other, because that doesn't matter to me and it just spurs fruitless fanboyism that I detest.

Ticket price? Stadium Size?

More people go to A LOT of things than the Super Bowl, but that's because getting in to the Super Bowl is no easy or cheap task.

Does not compare.

You mean in one place that offers very little (if any?) real sport competition? More people in Korea would be watching a successful South Korean soccer team then even the biggest of star craft 2 events. The market is small, the market is tiny. It only seems large because of the internet. In reality the market for spectator e-sports is very small (and beyond star craft it is pretty much non-existent). The only way e-sports will ever become a profitable market beyond niche is to engage it at the casual player with accessible leagues/ladders/ and tournaments for all. Blizzard kind of does it but they don't provide a good interface for it in my opinion. All others who try have failed pretty hard. Beyond sc2 e-sports have been declining and failing left right and center. And absolutely nothing that I see coming from game companies give me faith that this will change. Star craft 2 is a nice niche but it does not represent the e-sports market as a whole. That market is tiny, and largely ignored and at the current time requires real innovation. In my opinion the real money in e-sports (when it finally does get big) will not be spectating at all, it will come from little Johny paying 5$ a month to play in a very well run, exiting, competitive and fun casual league. Someone just needs to build it right.