User:Liamrebellato/sandbox

Fortnite is a highly popular survival video game by Epic Games played by millions of people of all ages worldwide. Throughout 2018, there has been a drastic increase of video game distractions for professional athletes, largely influenced by popular social media advertisements of Fortnite in particular. The majority of these athletes derive from the MLB (Major League Baseball), NHL (National Hockey League) and NFL (National Football League). These distractions mainly take place before, during, and after official games. One of the greatest cases of this occasion is with baseball player Carlos Santana, and how he smashed a T.V during a baseball game because of teammates playing Fortnite during the game.

= Athletes Playing Video Games While Playing Sports = It is not uncommon to find professional athletes gaming outside of their sport lives. Many of the greatest players including Neymar, Gordon Hayward and Jeremy Lin are all examples of professional athletes who love video games. Neymar has an addiction to GO, Gordan Heyward is a huge fan of League of Legends and Jeemy Lin is a big fan of Dota 2. Athletes do not always express their love for video games outside of sports. While other players express their passion for their favourite games on YouTube, Twitch, and social media. Fortnite is massive example for this and continues to be a trend for the reason that fortnite is such a popular game, played by millions of people. Other games do not impact the success of players, perhaps because they are not as trendy as Fortnite is in the modern day.

NHL players playing video games like Fornite before and during games
The Vancouver Canucks in the NHL placed a ban on Fortnite early October of 2018, after players were being continuously spotted playing the game on road trips before games. The Cannucks Organization was concerned about the usage of the game and how it distracted players and impacted their performers. "More sports teams are concerned aout the effects of the game on their players: staying up late to play Fortnite and thus affecting their performance during practice and at games. Other orgnizations in the NHL have been looking closely into the amount of time that is being spent by players playing Fortnite and do not want it to become a trend.

Fortnite affecting MLB players
MLB teams such as the Boston Red Sox, Philadelphia Phillies, and the Milwaukee Brewers whose players have been contributing to the latest trend of Fornite usage amongst players. These players play the video game during their travel time, between games in the clubhouse, their hotel rooms and on the bus. A player on the Boston RedSox named David Price admitted to having "Fortnite Fever" and was aware that the game has been an interference with his and his team's concentration. Price made the stand to put the controller down, to be a role model for other players involved in the league. On the other hand, Philadelphia's team had serious concerns regarding the overuse of this video game that have been resolved. Philadelphia Phillies' player Carlos Santana had seen enough of his teammates playing the video game during games. "Five days after the Phillies were eliminated from playoff contention in September, frustration boiled over inside the home clubhouse at Philadelphia's Citizens Bank Park. Watching a couple of his teammates playing Fortnite, the popular multiplayer online video game, during the Phillies' ninth consecutive loss was the final straw for veteran first baseman Carlos Santana, who smashed a TV with his bat to put an end to the fun." The veteran Santana felt that this was something that his teammates should have been worried about, especially after losing multiple games. Throughout Santanas career, he has never seen his teammates play any video games and realized the effects were problematic and detrimental to the team's success.

Fortnite affecting NFL player
NFL players on the teams Buffalo Bills, Oakland Raiders, Chicago Bears, and Pittsburgh Steelers such as Jordan Poyer, Derek Carr, Tarik Cohen and Juju Smith-Schuster developed an ongoing addiction that started during the beginning of the 2018 football season. They proudly came out about their addiction and Poyer even stated, "Every day I get a workout, come home, either go fishing or just come up here and play some Fortnite... Because I'm the best." Derek Carr was seen on Twitter tweeting about his victories in the game and admitted that the game is addicting. Tarik Cohen was also seen on Twitter discussing his Fornite habits and noted that Fornite is affecting his sleeping patterns, which in turn results in his lack of concentration during practices. Cohen later said "Im the best NFL Fortnite player. Easily." Juju Smith- Schuster is a major Fortnite fan and his uniform and player number has even been featured as a skin in the game Fortnite, as tribute to his love for the game. In addition, Smith- Schuster does Fortnite dances on the football field after some of his touchdowns. Furthermore, Smith-Schuster played Fortnite during the 2018 summer training camp, and in the off-season he played Fornite with professional Fortnite player Ninja and famous rapper Drake.