{"id":522,"date":"2019-05-07T20:00:02","date_gmt":"2019-05-07T12:00:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/networkconference.netstudies.org\/2019Curtin\/?p=522"},"modified":"2019-05-07T20:00:02","modified_gmt":"2019-05-07T12:00:02","slug":"a-comparative-study-of-esports-and-the-esport-community-in-contrast-to-traditional-sports","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/networkconference.netstudies.org\/2019Curtin\/2019\/05\/07\/a-comparative-study-of-esports-and-the-esport-community-in-contrast-to-traditional-sports\/","title":{"rendered":"A Comparative Study of eSports and the eSport Community in Contrast to Traditional Sports"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Abstract<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This\npaper explores the rising popularity and success of competitive video gaming\u2014known\nin the industry as eSports\u2014and the community behind the sport, and how the\nindustry measures up to in comparison with traditional sports. To understand\nthe fanbase behind this phenomenal growth, this paper will consider how the\nindustry has evolved over time, and what industry strategies have played a role\nin shaping the eSport community. It takes into consideration how spectator\nmotivation has factored into the popularity of eSports, and the contribution of\ncommunity building as facilitated by streaming to this. It analyses the culture\nof this audience, with particular regard to the prevalence of two cultures;\nthat of hero worship, and online discrimination, and how this culture compares\nwhen contrasted to that of traditional sport.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Keywords:<\/strong> eSports, online communities, streaming media, gender discrimination<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Introduction<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This\npaper explores the rising popularity and success of competitive video gaming\u2014known\nin the industry as eSports\u2014and the community behind the sport, and how it measures\nup in comparison to traditional sports. eSports is a multi-million dollar\nbusiness, backed by strong industry support and attracting viewership numbers\nthat exceed that of the United States\u2019s Superbowl (Cioletti, 2018). To\nunderstand the fanbase behind this phenomenal growth, it is important to\nunderstand how the industry has evolved over time, and what industry strategies\nhave played a role in shaping the eSport community. This paper will also take\ninto consideration how spectator motivation has factored into the viewership of\neSports, and how the online community of eSports fans factors into this. It\nwill also analyse the culture of this online audience, as contrasted to that of\ntraditional sport, with particular regard to the problem of discrimination and\nlack of diversity in the community.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What is eSports? A Brief Overview of the Industry<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

eSports,\nas defined by Hamari & Sj\u00f6blom (2017a, pg. 211) is \u2018a form of sports where the primary aspects of the sport are facilitated\nby electronic systems; the input of players and teams as well as the output of\nthe eSports system are mediated by human-computer interfaces.\u2019 In\npractice, this refers to competitive gaming for a variety of video game genres;\ntypically organised into such formats as tournaments, ladders or leagues; and played\nby either professionals or amateurs (Hamari & Sj\u00f6blom, 2017a). In recent\nyears, the boom in online gaming\u2014influenced by the widespread digitisation of\ngaming due to the ubiquity of the Internet and mobile devices\u2014has spurred on\nthe rapid growth of eSports (Hamari & Sj\u00f6blom, 2017a; Castells 2001, Miller\n2011, as cited in Rosell Llorens, 2017). This culture of competitive online\nplay has leant itself to developing into an industry. The way eSports is\nstructured is reminiscent of traditional sport, with a similar organisation of\nplayers, teams, coaches, managers, tournaments, leagues, player transfers,\ncollege scholarships, and sponsorship deals; it also shares institutional\nproblems such as match fixing, cheating, and gendered discrimination disputes\n(Jenny, Manning, Keiper, & Olrich, 2017; Newzoo, 2016; Gies, 2016, as cited\nin Pizzo et al., 2018). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 There still lingers an attitude towards eSport that underestimates the strength of the industry, even as the sector becomes increasingly mainstream. eSport is a highly profitable business. In 2015 the industry made over $325 million (Newzoo, as cited in Pizzo et al., 2018) which was predicted to grow to $905.6 million (Newzoo, as cited in Seitz, 2018). It is a global industry; while the sector is still attempting to reach the mainstream in the West, it is firmly established in the national sporting culture of many East Asian countries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

            While any sufficiently large competitive\ngame can evolve an eSport scene, the most common and popular genres are those\nof the multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA), real-time strategy (RTS), the\nfirst-person or team shooter (both will be referred to under the umbrella term\nof FPS), and the sports, card, and fighting game genres (Hamari & Sj\u00f6blom,\n2017a). Within these popular genres are specific games which have cultivated\ntheir own impressive followings, such as: League of Legends (LoL), Overwatch,\nand the FIFA games. It is on these three games\u2014and their respective eSports\nscenes and communities\u2014that provide the best case studies for eSport analysis. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

eSport Supporters: The Companies Behind The Industry<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\nsuccess of the eSport industry owes itself in large part to the way the\ncompanies behind the games have quickly adopted and supported the practice.\nThere is a lot of money in the industry; not just in the form of profits made\nby the developers of popular eSport games, but in the financial investment into\nthe industry made by these companies. As has already been indicated, eSports is\na multi-million dollar industry, and much of this money is due to major\nfinancial backing from corporate sponsors and endorsement deals. These income\nstreams alone account for about 40% of industry revenue (Seitz, 2018).\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 In addition, purpose-built eSport stadiums have already been constructed in countries such as the United States and South Korea; for example, the latter boasts Nexon Arena, a stadium built to host events for a variety of eSport titles (Pizzo et al., 2018). These stadiums have been built both by the games companies for their own games, and by the government of the host country itself. That the industry has eSport specific venues is vital, as it gives the eSport audience a physical space in which to interact with the industry and community.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Despite the presence of physical eSport tournaments, for the most part eSport competitions are viewed primarily through online broadcasting mediums such as Twitch.tv. eSports coverage can be found on broadcast television in some countries, but for most audiences online streaming is the only method of accessing eSports content. Knowing this, the industry has collaborated closely with these platforms. Until as recently as 2017, Riot Games\u2014the company behind LoL\u2014granted Twitch the rights to broadcast tournaments for free. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Factors such as these have a multi-pronged effect: they seek to make professional play accessible, enable audiences to directly engage with the competition, and provide a shared community space for their audience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Motivation Behind eSports Consumption<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

While industry\nsupport was vital for growing the infrastructure to support the eSport\nindustry, it was the popularity of eSports that attracted this backing initially.\nIn order to understand how eSports as a genre became popular, it is important\nto first analyse why. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 People watch competitive gaming for much the same reasons that they watch traditional sports (Pizzo et al., 2018; Hamari & Sj\u00f6blom, 2017a). According to the study by Pizzo et al., (2018), the most important metrics by which traditional sports fans determined their engagement with their sport were: vicarious achievement, physical attraction and family bonding. In comparison, the study found that while they shared similar motivations, eSport audiences rated differing motives as crucial to their engagement. In particular, the excitement and athlete skill factors mattered more for those who watched eSports, in comparison to traditional sport (Pizzo et al., 2018). In addition, the strength of any particular motive was also dependent on the kind of sport; real-time strategy fans rated athlete skill as more important than a connection to a team or player, which was more important to virtual sport eSport fans (Pizzo et al., 2018).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

       Community is a core motivator for\naudiences when deciding to participate in sports viewership\u2014for both\ntraditional sports and eSports. For traditional sports, which are customarily spectated\nthrough the medium of broadcast television, motivations such as family are\nsalient (Pizzo et al., 2018). It was important to participants to bond with\nfamily members over sports viewership\u2014this becomes a household tradition (Pizzo\net al., 2018). However, eSports does not share the same viewing patterns or\nmediums of traditional sports, and family is not a primary motivation for\neSports fans. But this does not mean similar motivations of community bonding\nare not an important factor in eSport viewership. Video games have always had a\nsocial aspect embedded in their culture. While a majority of eSports coverage\nis streamed on platforms such as Twitch, these streaming mediums allow\nsomething which broadcast television does not: an in-built space for social\ninteraction (Sj\u00f6blom, & Hamari, 2017b). Twitch offers chatrooms with every\nstream; these function as \u2018third places\u2019; like the sports bars before them, this\ncharacteristic of Twitch chatrooms allows communities to grow (Hamilton et al.,\nas cited in Hilvert-Bruce, Neill, Sj\u00f6blom & Hamari, 2018). These chats enable\nactive participation by the community in the livestream, as opposed to the passive\nviewing experience of broadcast media (Sj\u00f6blom, & Hamari, 2017b).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 eSport audiences share traditional motivations behind their consumption of eSport content, but they differ from traditional sports fans as to what those motivations are, which suggests that while eSports are very much sports, they are ones governed by very different rules.\u00a0 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

eSports Communities: Divided By Gender<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Both the gaming\nindustry and the traditional sport industry have a diversity problem; in\nparticular, both are well-known for their problems with representing the women\nin their communities. Traditional sport has made considerable progress in this\nregard; the industry is now more committed than ever to hosting, funding and\nbroadcasting women\u2019s sport. But while examples\u2014such as the formation of the\nAustralian Rules Football Women\u2019s League in 2017\u2014abound, the gender gap still\nremains a problem (Hall & Oglesby, 2016). The gaming industry, on the other\nhand, grapples with a stereotype of gaming as the pursuit of young men only,\nwhich is not representative of its audience today\u2014and never really was (Eklund,\n2016; Ruvalcaba, Shulze, Kim, Berzenski, & Otten, 2018). Thus, on first\nglance, it would seem to be a fair assumption that eSports, being a product of\nboth industries, might report very low viewership numbers among women.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 While viewership numbers among women are certainly lower than that of their male counterparts (Hamari & Sj\u00f6blom, 2017a; Pizzo et al., 2018) on a community level, at least, gender diversity in eSports is not as radically unbalanced as might be believed. It certainly is a problem\u2014statistics suggest that gamers are fairly evenly split between male and female\u2014and the split of eSports viewers are certainly lower than this by a significant percent (Hamari & Sj\u00f6blom, 2017; Pizzo et al., 2018; Ruvalcaba et al., 2018). However, like traditional sports, the most troubling aspect of the gender divide is not found within the audience, but within the ranks of the professionals. Analysis of various metrics show that traditional sports fail to devote as much time, coverage, or resources to females player as they do male (Hall & Oglesby, 2016). This institutional problem with women in sporting industries is further amplified within eSports. Very few professional eSports players are women; when the Overwatch League opened in 2017, not one player in the competition was female. As of 2019, only one female player is currently contracted by the League (The Overwatch League, 2019). This lack of woman in eSport is further compounded by the fact that, unlike traditional sports\u2014which are divided into male and female leagues\u2014eSports leagues do not make this distinction. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

            While\neSports viewership among female audiences is not as dramatically low as\nstereotypes would suggest, the number of female professionals within the\nindustry is troubling, particularly because this lack of representation can\nfeed back into the community.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The eSport\nCulture<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

eSports culture is\ndominated by two factors: hero worship and discrimination. eSports is a product\nof the modern online gaming environment, and that environment has been marked\nby such things as gendered harassment for decades (Ruvalcaba et al., 2018). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Like traditional sports, eSports cultivates fandoms around teams and players. Spectators will actively barrack for specific teams or players; of eSports viewers in 2016, 75% possessed a favourite team, while 69% had a favourite player\u2019 (Ruvalcaba et al., 2018). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 One important aspect that facilitates this fandom culture is the role of streaming media. Many eSport fans are drawn into the industry as a result of participation by their favourite streamers in the scene. It is no wonder, then, that most players will actively produce gameplay footage on sites such as Twitch, and will continue to cultivate these streaming platforms even while competing in eSports events to boost their popularity and chance at higher financial rewards (Li & Huang, 2014, as cited in Brown, Billings, Murphy, & Puesan, 2017). Additionally, stream popularity is heavily skewed: 10% of individual streamers were responsible for 95% of views (Kaytoue et\u00a0al., 2012, as cited in Sj\u00f6blom, & Hamari, 2017b). This accounts for the way individual streamers and eSports players quickly rise to the same celebrity status as traditional athletes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

            The\ngaming community has always had a problem with sexism and harassment. The\nenvironment of online gaming\u2014where users are anonymous, represented only by\ntheir avatars\u2014leads to disinhibition which then facilitates high levels of\ndiscriminatory behaviour (Suler, 2004, as cited in Ruvalcaba et al., 2017). Unlike\nin most online gaming environments, eSports focuses on the player as a real\nperson\u2014in part due to the aforementioned hero worship culture\u2014and not an\navatar. This is derived in part from streaming, where the problem of harassment\nis no longer mitigated by anonymous avatars, because streaming\u2014like social\nmedia\u2014blends the freedom of construction of identity afforded by online\nplatforms with the desire for the \u2018real\u2019 (Van Der Nagel & Frith, 2015).\nStreamers are online personalities, and regularly use their faces and voices to\nconnect with their audiences. As such, the discriminatory behaviour first\npopularised in these online gaming contexts finds itself capable of identifying\nand targeting individuals on the basis of gender, ethnicity and so on. Streamers\nand eSports professionals can no longer hide behind anonymity as a defence\nagainst harassment. Women in both are thus often alienated, with the term\n\u2018gamer girl\u2019 used commonly as a derogatory label that connotes both tokenism\nand a perceived lack of ability (Ruvalcaba et al., 2017). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

            The culture of the eSport community\nfeatures both high emotional engagement between its audiences, players and\nteams, as well as high levels of hateful, discriminatory behavior that\nalienates diverse members of the community and limits the industry as a whole.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Conclusion<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

eSports is a\nmulti-million dollar industry that looks capable of overtaking traditional\nsport in the decades to come. The eSports scene is one of rapid growth, aided\nby strong institutional support from the gaming industry, corporate sponsors\nand devoted fanbases. Audience motivations for spectating eSports are varied\nand show the same amount of dedication\u2014if not more\u2014for the industry as can be\nfound for traditional sports. While the industry is less divided along gendered\nlines than prevailing attitudes would suggest, there is a notable gap between\nthe rates of male and female participation in eSports. The industry is also\nlimited by its ongoing problems with prevalent discriminatory attitudes in the\ncommunity, which poisons the eSports culture and alienates diverse members of\nthe community. The eSport industry must continue to work on its strong points,\nand fix the more negative aspects of its community, in order to reach its\npotential as a global mainstream media format.
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

References<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Brown, K. A., Billings, A. C., Murphy, B., &\nPuesan, L. (2017). Intersections of Fandom in the Age of Interactive Media:\neSports Fandom as a Predictor of Traditional Sport Fandom. Communication & Sport<\/em>, 6(4), 418-435.\ndoi:10.1177\/2167479517727286<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cioletti, A. (2018, April). All eyes on eSports.\nLicense! Global, 21, 9. Retrieved from\nhttps:\/\/search-proquest-com.dbgw.lis.curtin.edu.au\/docview\/2056439451?accountid=10382<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Eklund, L. (2016). Who are the casual gamers? Gender\ntropes and tokenism in game culture. In Willson, M., & Leaver, T. (Eds.). Social, Casual and Mobile Games: The\nChanging Gaming Landscape<\/em> (pp. 15\u201330). Retrieved from\nhttps:\/\/ebookcentral.proquest.com<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hamari, J., & Sj\u00f6blom, M. (2017). What is eSports\nand why do people watch it? Internet\nResearch, <\/em>27(2), 211-232.\ndoi:http:\/\/dx.doi.org.dbgw.lis.curtin.edu.au\/10.1108\/IntR-04-2016-0085<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hilvert-Bruce, Z., Neill, J. T., Sj\u00f6blom, M., &\nHamari, J. (2018). Social motivations of live-streaming viewer engagement on\nTwitch. Computers in Human Behavior, 84, 58-67. doi:10.1016\/j.chb.2018.02.013<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pizzo, A. D., Baker, B. J., Na, S., Lee, M. A., Kim,\nD., & Funk, D. C. (2018). eSport vs. sport: A comparison of spectator\nmotives. Sport Marketing Quarterly, 27(2), 108-123. Retrieved from\nhttps:\/\/search-proquest-com.dbgw.lis.curtin.edu.au\/docview\/2131137258?accountid=10382<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Seitz, P. (2018, Feb 21). Global esports revenue forecast to top $905 million in 2018. Investor’s Business Daily Retrieved from https:\/\/search-proquest-com.dbgw.lis.curtin.edu.au\/docview\/2006918585?accountid=10382<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sj\u00f6blom, M., & Hamari, J. (2017). Why do people\nwatch others play video games? An empirical study on the motivations of Twitch\nusers. Computers in Human Behavior, 75, 985-996. doi:10.1016\/j.chb.2016.10.019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rosell Llorens, M. (2017). eSport Gaming: The Rise of\na New Sports Practice. Sport, Ethics and Philosophy, 11(4), 464-476.\ndoi:10.1080\/17511321.2017.1318947<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ruvalcaba, O., Shulze, J., Kim, A., Berzenski, S. R.,\n& Otten, M. P. (2018). Women\u2019s Experiences in eSports: Gendered Differences\nin Peer and Spectator Feedback During Competitive Video Game Play. Journal of\nSport and Social Issues, 42(4), 295-311. doi:10.1177\/0193723518773287<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Overwatch League Players. (2019). Retrieved from\nhttps:\/\/overwatchleague.com\/en-us\/players<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Van Der Nagel, E. and Frith, J. (2015). Anonymity,\npseudonymity, and the agency of online identity: Examining the social practices\nof r\/Gonewild. First Monday, 20(3), Retrieved from\nhttp:\/\/www.ojphi.org\/ojs\/index.php\/fm\/article\/view\/5615\/4346<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Abstract This paper explores the rising popularity and success of competitive video gaming\u2014known in the industry as eSports\u2014and the community behind the sport, and how the industry measures up to in comparison with traditional sports. To understand the fanbase behind this phenomenal growth, this paper will consider how the industry has evolved over time, and… Continue reading A Comparative Study of eSports and the eSport Community in Contrast to Traditional Sports<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":78,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[171,173,65,172],"class_list":["post-522","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-gaming","tag-esports","tag-gender-discrimination","tag-online-communities","tag-streaming-media"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/networkconference.netstudies.org\/2019Curtin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/522","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/networkconference.netstudies.org\/2019Curtin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/networkconference.netstudies.org\/2019Curtin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/networkconference.netstudies.org\/2019Curtin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/78"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/networkconference.netstudies.org\/2019Curtin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=522"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/networkconference.netstudies.org\/2019Curtin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/522\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":524,"href":"https:\/\/networkconference.netstudies.org\/2019Curtin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/522\/revisions\/524"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/networkconference.netstudies.org\/2019Curtin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=522"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/networkconference.netstudies.org\/2019Curtin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=522"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/networkconference.netstudies.org\/2019Curtin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=522"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}