Esports buffs: the perceived role of fans and fandoms in U.S. collegiate programs
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Date
2024-09-11
Authors
Cote, Amanda C.
Rahman, Md Waseq Ur
Foxman, Maxwell
Wilson, Andrew
Harris, Brandon C.
Can, Onder
Hansen, Jared C.
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Frontiers in Sports and Active Living
Abstract
Introduction: Collegiate esports—organized competitive gaming—has
expanded rapidly in the United States, drawing in student players,
broadcasters, and support staff, as well as university employees. Universities
have invested financially in esports, hoping to capitalize on gaming fandom to
attract prospective students and enhance campus community integration.
Little research, however, addresses collegiate esports fandom in depth.
Methods: Drawing on thirty-one in-depth interviews with collegiate esports
players, student workers, program directors, and administrators, this article
investigates how collegiate esports participants perceive and discuss their fans.
Results: We identify three central themes related to fans in the dataset:
discussions of fans’ role in the collegiate esports environment, comparisons
between esports and traditional sports fans, and concerns about the
underutilization of fans within collegiate esports spaces. Subsequently, we
theorize these themes through existing research on professional esports and
traditional collegiate sports fandoms, as well as through the concept of “fan
labor,” or how the productive work of fans provides value to the nascent industry.
Discussion: This article thus not only specifically explores how collegiate esports
programs are normalizing fan labor as an essential part of their practices, but also
questions who benefits from this relationship and how. Investigating collegiate
esports fans as an under-researched group additionally provides a new
perspective on how fan labor integrates with media industries more broadly.
Description
13 pages
Keywords
Citation
Cote AC, Rahman MWU, Foxman M, Wilson A, Harris BC, Can O and Hansen JC (2024) Esports buffs: the perceived role of fans and fandoms in U.S. collegiate programs. Front. Sports Act. Living 6:1410929. doi: 10.3389/fspor.2024.1410929