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Exploring oppositionality and support of Counter-Strike redditors for the World ESports Association

2023; Routledge; Volume: 43; Issue: 4 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1080/02614367.2023.2243655

1466-4496

Heiko Heidenreich, Geoff Dickson, Nicolas Strohfuß, Markus Kurscheidt,

Gambling Behavior and Treatments

ABSTRACTThis study explores sentiments towards the World ESports Association (WESA) within a Counter-Strike Reddit community. Esports communities have not embraced the various self-proclaimed domestic and international esports governing organisations and are notoriously hostile to any organisation perceived as exploiting them. Our sentiment analysis was based on a review of 5359 comments (distributed across 29 threads and five subreddits) made by Counter-Strike Redditors. We retained 861 of these comments in our final data set. Provisional themes were revised until the main categories were finalised. The key finding was that negative sentiments outweigh positive sentiments. Counter-Strike Redditors criticised WESA for subsequent monopolisation and unnecessary interference in an otherwise functional system, corruption, a lack of transparency and power, and its opportunistic financial behaviour. More positively, WESA is credited with standardising rules and setting standards, enhancing player welfare and protection, growing esports, and offsetting publisher power and incompetence. Despite these sentiments, we propose that esports communities' influence on institutional considerations is likely to be limited. There is an ongoing tension between the initial understanding of gaming and its institutionalisation process. Acquiring player/fan acceptance is an ongoing challenge for these organisations.KEYWORDS: Governanceesportselectronic sportsredditsentiment analysissportification Disclosure statementNo potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).Data availability statementThe data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author, [HH], upon reasonable request.Additional informationNotes on contributorsHeiko HeidenreichHeiko Heidenreich has been a passionate gamer from the very beginning. He holds a Master's degree in Sport, Business and Law and is currently pursuing his Ph.D. at the University of Bayreuth specifically working in the Department of Sport Governance and Event Management within the BaySpo – Bayreuth Center of Sport Science. His research focuses on the captivating realm of gaming and electronic sports, particularly examining the interplay between economically driven game publishers and the simultaneous rise of non-profit associations in this domain. His work delves into the evolving governance structures of gaming and electronic sports, providing valuable insights into this ever-changing industry while considering its exceptional community dynamics.Geoff DicksonGeoff Dickson is a leading member of the Australian sport management academic community. His research interests transcend sport management, recently focussing on governance, innovation, image, reputation, integrity, sponsorship, ambush marketing, and consumer behaviour. He has supervised to completion nearly 40 honours, masters and PHD theses. He started his academic career at Central Queensland University before a 14-year tenure at Auckland University of Technology. During his time in New Zealand, Geoff was a director of Gymnastics New Zealand, Tennis Northern, AFL New Zealand, and President of the Sport Management Association of Australia and New Zealand. Now at La Trobe University, he is director of the Centre for Sport and Social Impact. He has been a visiting professor at universities in Brazil, Czech Republic, Portugal, Canada, USA, Germany, Thailand, UK, Hong Kong, and Iran. He is a keen golfer and describes his ability as 'better than most but not nearly as good as some'. His favourite arcade video game is Galaxian.Nicolas StrohfußNicolas Strohfuß graduated from the University of Bayreuth with a Master's degree in Sport, Business and Law. His research interests are driven by a profound passion for governance and community dynamics, focusing on the exploration of governance structures within sports organizations and understanding community attitudes in this domain.Markus KurscheidtMarkus Kurscheidt is a full professor of Sport Economics and chairs the Department of Sport Governance and Event Management at the University of Bayreuth within the BaySpo – Bayreuth Center of Sport Science. He is the head of the renowned BSc and MSc programmes in Sport, Business and Law as well as vice-president of the International Association of Sports Economists (IASE) and the German Association of Sport Economics and Sport Management (Arbeitskreis Sportökonomie, AK). His research in sport governance and sport finance focuses on major sport events, international football governance and fan culture. He published in peer-reviewed journals, for instance, on sustainability in sports and Olympic values, electronic sports and golf, commercialisation and financing in sports as well as sport in China.