IntroductionEsports is practiced by millions of people worldwide every day. On a professional level, esports has been proven to have a high stress potential and is sometimes considered equivalent to traditional sporting activities. While traditional sports have health-promoting effects through muscle activity and increased energy expenditure, amateur esports could represent a purely sedentary activity, which would carry potentially harmful effects when practiced regularly. Therefore, this study aims to investigate the acute effects of esports on the cardiovascular system and energy expenditure in amateur esports players to show whether esports can be considered as physical strain or mental stress or whether amateur esports has to be seen as purely sedentary behavior.MethodsThirty male subjects participated in a 30-min gaming session, playing the soccer simulation game FIFA 20 or the tactical, first-person multiplayer shooter Counter-Strike: Global Offensive. Respiratory and cardiovascular parameters, as well as energy expenditure, blood glucose, lactate, and cortisol, were determined pre-, during, and post-gaming.ResultsThere were no significant changes in oxygen uptake, carbon dioxide output, energy expenditure, stroke volume, or lactate levels. Heart rate, blood glucose and cortisol decreased through the intervention until reaching their minimum levels 10 min post-gaming (Cortisolpre: 3.1 ± 2.9 ng/ml, Cortisolpost: 2.2 ± 2.3 ng/ml, p < 0.01; HRmin0.5: 82 ± 11 bpm, HRpost: 74 ± 13 bpm, p < 0.01).ConclusionA 30-min esports intervention does not positively affect energy expenditure or metabolism in amateur esports players. Therefore, it cannot provide the same health-promoting effects as traditional sports participation, but could in the long-term rather cause the same potentially health-damaging effects as purely sedentary behavior. However, it does not trigger a negative stress response in the players. Deliberate physical activity and exercise routines adapted to these demands should therefore be part of the daily life of amateur esports players.
The dominant position of esports game publishers is a fundamental difference between the systemic governance of esports and traditional sports. There are no such equivalent organizations in traditional sports. As for-profit corporations, the publishers develop and market the electronic games as their commercial products and thus, possess exclusive property rights. Publishers control the virtual sporting environment and the rules of the game. In conventional sports, by contrast, non-profit associations administer their sports with the core task of developing the sport by regulations, playing rules, and licensing. There are, however, esports associations which resemble traditional leagues and national governing bodies. Given this, we explore how esports associations pursue legitimacy. This study is empirically motivated by the recent emergence of two esports associations in the insightful case of Germany and examines the pursuit of legitimacy by the World Esports Association (WESA) and the eSport-Bund Deutschland e.V. (ESBD). The study is based on a content analysis of 55 documents and nine interviews with relevant stakeholders. The findings show that the esports associations rely on conformance and manipulation strategies by transferring existing structures from traditional sports to esports. The most effective practices are lobbying for social and public acceptance of esports and creating supportive networks for esports development. While publishers possess an undisputed and taken-for-granted legitimacy based on their product property rights, esports associations struggle for recognition and acceptance. They may still have a long way to go, given that established associations in conventional sports have a history for decades. Yet, esports associations need to accept publisher dominance. Thus, they can only claim partial legitimacy within the esports ecosystem by targeting segments of stakeholders. Management, policy and theoretical implications of this key insight are finally presented.
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