Esports basically made gaming something more than geeks or man children hiding from the world. It made it mainstream and something people can earn money doing.
imagine thinking this is a good thing, goddamn
It let the world create a much larger number of games while also letting you say to people "I play computer games" and it does not automatically put you into "loser" category.
And due to thriving indie scene we still have lots of good games to play.
It kind of does though? Did you miss the whole Gamergate thing, where they made out "gamers" to be the devil? Today acceptable "gamers" are the consumerist casual/mobile gaming crowd, who would eagerly play whatever the journos and their corporate backers want you to play, not players who played the original xcom games. Or "grogs", I believe the derisive term is.
Esports is still a relatively niche hobby. It's larger than it used to be, but you don't see them broadcasted to the same extent of actual sports, now do you? And the games often featured are the flashy click spam stuff with large, over-designed hero units, not your classical RTS.