We Played a Professional E-Sports Player…and Lost

Tom Huddleston Jr.

Updated Sun, Mar 25, 2018, 6:00 PM

Dirty Mike is laying it on thick. Michael LaBelle, a.k.a. "Dirty Mike" or "Hashtag Mike," a 28-year-old Houston native, is a professional gamer who is among the best in the world at Electronic Arts' FIFA 18. Right now, he's destroying me. "Tom's sweating over there!" LaBelle boasts as we compete in his New Jersey apartment. Our match ends in a shutout: 4-0. It easily "could've been a 10-goal thriller," he says, had he not wished to spare my pride.

LaBelle makes a living competing in dozens of major soccer gaming competitions around the world. He's also an entertainer with 285,000 YouTube followers who flock to his videos (with nearly 40 million views), seeking advice to improve their skills. But LaBelle's newest gig may be his most surprising. In January, Major League Soccer's New York Red Bulls signed him to a professional contract to be the team's first official "eSports athlete." In April, LaBelle will compete against top FIFA players representing 18 other MLS teams at the first-ever eMLS Cup. (The "e" stands for e-sports.)

The event is the biggest sign yet that pro sports leagues are embracing gaming to better connect with fans. (And make money: E-sports annual revenue is expected to reach $1.1 billion by 2019.) Does that mean LaBelle thinks of himself as a pro athlete? Call him whatever you want, he says: "I'm just happy to see that this has become something."