Regarding the last bit, sports are sports. A think of football as no less of a sport than video games (as a whole) or Chess. No more, either. So, naturally, I think of esports much the same way. And on the same note, I consider esports no more or less sports than average gaming.
But I'm not really into the competitive scene. It's not that I don't inherently like it, but as a player, I'm not really competitive. Losses don't sting and winning was more about the fun during than anything else, but I always enjoy a challenge so it's more about achieving goals to me than winning or losing. In other words, I don't care about the outcome, I care about what I get out of the experience. It's why I do most things video game, after all, and is largely why I don't just pick up and play competitive multiplayer games. Osu is a good example of this, since my goal is to "get better" and not to "be the best", because I don't play to stand atop the other players, it's because I enjoy the thrill of the challenge that the songs present (among other things).
And as a spectator, jumping back to esports, it's just not enough of a varied experience. A friend of mine, some time ago, said that he didn't like Osu! that much because it was too "repetitive", which I found odd considering he was massively into MOBAs, a genre that, currently, is very static thanks to its meta (though it ripples with developer updates). And those are the games that are big in esports. Some FPS as well, but I need to see the scene get more experimental.
Rocket League is an example of a game I'm glad is popular because it's, by nature, dynamic. Because of this and the fact that, visually, it's a very reactive, on-the-nose experience, it's fun to watch and fun to play. That's the type of dynamic I like to see. Hell, I'd even say strategy games (some of which are very popular in this scene) are dynamic as well in that despite being similar to MOBAs in various regards, they're far more reactive. That's what I like, that excitement. The uncertainty of who will win or what someone will do, and those involved having the avenues to make several logical, efficient choices while also maintaining synergy with their team (assuming it's a team-based game). And it doesn't always have to be static. Osu and other rhythm games (and hell, speedruns, various score-based games, etc.) have you striving for perfection, but what makes these exciting is that the stakes increase as the game goes on, and failure is always a step away.
There's a lot more I could say about this. I haven't touched competitive card video games, Fighters (which are textbook examples of the whole "several logical, efficient choices" deal), and yada yada, but I don't want to text wall this thread anymore than I already have, so that's my piece.
