On the Rise of Esports: What Do the Scholars Say?

Esports has been a global entertainment and technology phenomenon. The rate of its growth has seen it expand into several areas of business including tv, streaming, and gambling. Its success has not come without growing pains, however.

Followers of esports are well familiar with the high-profile scandals that have occurred over the years and have vigorously debated on how they should be addressed to keep the industry moving in the right direction.

What has been interesting is that with the growth of esports, these issues are seemingly gaining a lot more traction. Esports now has a small but growing section of legal scholarship. Entertainment law scholars are actively theorizing on the biggest issues plaguing the industry and how best to solve them.

We look at 5 of the most compelling and significant pieces of scholarship which should be of interest to the avid esports follower and layman.

1. The Future is Now: Esports Policy Considerations and Potential Litigation.

First up is The Future is Now: Esports Policy Considerations and Potential Litigation. The authors, John Holden, Anastasios Kaburakis, and Ryan Rodenberg, dive into whether esports can be legally classified as a sport in the United States and what the potential ramifications would be across the industry.

As such, it looks into aspects of the industry that open itself up to litigation and analyzes the future of esports as a form of creative competition and business innovation. The authors are Professors at Oklahoma State University, Florida State University, and Saint Louis University respectively.

2. “You Must Construct Additional Pylons”: Building a Better Framework for ESports Governance

Next is “You Must Construct Additional Pylons”: Building a Better Framework for ESports Governance, by Laura Chao. The author looks into the challenges that emerging governance organizations have created to support the professionalization of esports as a new entertainment form.

This is done through a comparison of the governance measures used by traditional sports leagues and foreign esports markets to determine the possibilities available in the US.

One of the primary challenges she identifies in domestic regulation is the underlying intellectual property rights in game ownership. The author is a New York-based attorney and entertainment scholar.

3. Tiebreaker: An Antitrust Analysis of Esports

Following is Tiebreaker: An Antitrust Analysis of Esports, by Max Miroff. The author looks at the potential that video game publishers have to monopolize esports markets through their sole ownership of the intellectual property that the competitions rely on.

He argues that in order to avoid monopolistic practices from game developers such as unilaterally rescinding broadcast rights to independent tournament organizers, antitrust laws should intervene and restrict such practices. The author is a New York-based attorney and entertainment scholar.

4. Doping in Esports: How and to What Extent can we Look to WADA for Guidance

Then is Doping in Esports: How and to What Extent can we Look to WADA for Guidance, by Oluwatamilore Fashina. The author takes on the issue of doping in esports, taking a holistic approach to the challenges it presents from a talent protection standpoint, looking at players’ mental and physical health, to an international business governance analysis breaking down the structure and power dynamics of the industry.

This is done through a comparison of the emergence of doping in traditional sports and the governance frameworks that were implemented to counteract it, ultimately analyzing the extent to which these measures would be successful in esports. The author is a Los Angeles-based attorney and entertainment scholar.

5. Esports, Player Positions, & the Benefits of Unionization

Last, but not least, is Esports, Player Positions, & the Benefits of Unionization, by Roshan Patel. The author goes into the prospect of unionization in the esports industry. The necessity of unionization is illustrated through a contrast between esports athletes and traditional sports athletes and their lack of bargaining power, abusive contracts, and poor working conditions.

Despite this, the author argues that there is high untapped potential for talent in esports to unionize, and it may even be smoother for them to do so than their counterparts in the traditional sports industry. The author is a D.C.-based attorney and entertainment scholar.

Conclusion

With all this in mind, it is clear that the dynamism and growth of the esports industry can no longer be ignored. Soon policy-makers and regulators will have to make decisions on how exactly to integrate esports comprehensively into domestic policy frameworks like other forms of entertainment.

In addressing these novel entertainment issues, scholarship like the articles listed above will be instrumental. Thus, the above pieces and the topics they consider should be considered foundationary works which any learned esports fan should be familiar with.