E-Sports
Jakob Hammarskjöld (2020)
Abstract: Esports has, during the 21st century, developed from an overlooked subculture into a billion-dollar industry. Across the globe, teams are competing in tournaments with large prize pools, cheered on by devoted fans. Despite this impressive scenery, there is still little knowledge of these teams and their fans. Empirical evidence suggests esports fandom is characterized by connections to multiple teams and players; however, no previous study has investigated the topic. Within traditional sports, the notion of fans as fans of a single, favorite team, which they identify with to various degrees, has been the norm. Over decades of research, scholars have discovered the origins of sports fans' team identification and connected it to concepts such as loyalty and psychological well-being. Esports share many common characteristics with traditional sports; however, it is unknown whether the theories on sports fandom also hold up in esports. This study empirically investigates esports fans through the lens of traditional sports fans. A quantitative survey was distributed to 210 Swedish fans of the esport Counter-Strike Global Offensive (CSGO). The results showed these fans considered themselves fans of multiple teams, but they still had one favorite team. Identification with this favorite team was positively correlated with both behavioral and attitudinal loyalty, similarly to traditional sports fans. This study shows that theories on traditional sports fans can be successfully applied to esports. Furthermore, the findings of this first study on esports fans provide a map of their fandom. This map has relevance for both researchers and esports teams developing their team brands.
Felix Bensberg & Johannes Pauleikhoff (2020)
Abstract: In this paper, it is examined how accounting can be used to enable the commercial development of emerging sports. Building on Mouritsen and Kreiner's (2016) findings regarding the relationship between accounting and decision as promises, the eSports industry is identified as a case of a promissory economy, where promising agents construct a "regime of hope" (Brown, 2005), which pictures a thriving future for the industry. This future vision is based on the growing number of fans that follow eSports and the enormous amounts of investments that are flowing into the industry. This vision is contrasted by the rather disillusioning reality that many organizations in the eSports industry are facing. Many of them are struggling to monetize their business model, and no clear pathway is apparent for how this could be changed. In order to enroll various actors in the industry that are required to commercially develop it further, the promising agents utilize certain accounting indicators strategically when picturing the industry. This highlights the performativity of accounting in this context and illustrates how institutional logics can be used to depict the reality more advantageously. Furthermore, it shows how a promissory economy can actually be constructed and which conditions are favorable to the effectiveness of this construction.
E-sports, A Man’s World? How Gender Ratios in E-Sports Teams Affect Perceptions (BSc)
Jonny Baho & Axel Neikter (2019)
Abstract: E-sports have gone from being a niche community of video gamers to becoming mainstream, with million-dollar prize pools for the best players. With the growth of e-sports, companies have increasingly become interested in sponsoring teams, sometimes going as far as to found their own teams. Despite its growth, however, e-sports remains male-dominated, with almost all professional gamers being male. Previous research shows that in sports perceived as being masculine, and in other masculine domains, stereotypes often exist, altering the perception of those who break these stereotypes. This study explores how the perception of e-sports teams differs depending on their gender ratios. An experiment was administered where three groups received a respective simulated newspaper article about a new e-sports team, with different gender ratios for each group: one all-male team, one mixed female and male team, and one all-female team. Data from 122 respondents was thereafter collected and measured with regard to attitude, interest, perceived skill, likelihood to share the article, and likelihood to watch the team play. The results indicated that respondents tended to show more interest in teams including female players than in the all-male team. Interestingly, the added interest arose for both the mixed-gender team and the all-female team, suggesting that it was not the lack of males that added interest but rather the occurrence of females. Furthermore, this study suggests that e-sports teams looking to increase levels of interest should attempt to add female players, all else equal.
Max Oskar Andersson & Jakob Hammarskjöld (2018)
Abstract: This thesis aims to contribute to the research on esports, a subject that has received limited attention from scholars. Using a comparative analysis of esports and floorball, two activities that both have experienced rapid development in Sweden, this study further aims to explain if, how, and why esports have developed differently from modern sports. Using data gathered from qualitative interviews with key individuals representing Swedish esports and floorball, respectively, the development of these two activities is described from within. A framework of the rationalization process of sports with three phases, sportification, intensification, and totalization, is used to identify similarities and differences between the two activities. Empirical findings show that both activities have developed rapidly, partly explained by a consciousness about the characteristics of a modern sport. However, the development of floorball has stagnated due to a lack of commercialization and global competition. In esports, these factors have always been perceived as key characteristics of the activity. The explanation of this crucial difference is given by the very core element of esports, digitalization. Digitalization has enabled the rapid global diffusion of esports and has further incited the commercialization. Moreover, the example of esports shows that the phases in the rationalization process of sports can occur simultaneously and not sequentially. Driven by digitalization and commercialization, esports is emerging both as an alternative and a competitor to modern sports.
Gustav Groth & Filip Wikström (2016)
Abstract: ESports, or the competitive play of video games, is a growing global phenomenon that has captured the interest of many scholars from different academic fields. Previous research suggests that there is a link between leadership in sport and esports organizations. This thesis aims to study this link by using the Multilevel conceptual model of leadership in sport management by Peachy et al. The model outlines differentiating factors that have a unique influence on the leadership processes in sport organizations. Through a qualitative multi-case study, we seek empirical validation for the applicability of the model. A total of six people from four different eSport organizations took part in in-depth interviews. From the results, we have analyzed the extent to which these factors and conditions are also present in the context of eSports. Largely, we found that they are present and that the model is a good fit for studying leadership in esports organizations. However, some revisions would have to be made. The most significant being the separate study of the developers that provide the game in which eSport is practiced. Ultimately, this thesis recommends future research to further establish the link between esports and sport.
Gustaf Barner & Christian Thorwid (2015)
Abstract: The e-sport industry has experienced enormous growth the recent years and is not showing any signs of stopping. This has led to the emergence of incongruent companies looking to reap the benefits of an emerging market. With this in mind, a skeptically characterized target group could induce a stronger need for marketing efforts to be perceived as authentic. Within e-sports, sponsorship is the dominant form of marketing. Thus, this study aims to investigate how the perceived motives of a sponsor affect the sponsorship outcome, and what influence different levels of congruency have. Attribution theory is used as a framework to hypothesize the effects of authentic sponsorship motives and congruency. An experiment was conducted where four different press releases were designed. These were conveyed by either a congruent sponsor or an incongruent sponsor with authentic or less authentic motives. The sponsorship outcome was measured and compared between the four groups. The results are inconclusive, but the study indicates that an incongruent sponsor to establish congruency rather than solely signaling authentic sponsorship motives, to increase sponsorship outcome. Furthermore, the study supports previous research regarding sponsorship motives and establishes that a congruent sponsor is naturally perceived as having more authentic motives.