The Future Is Now: Esports Policy Considerations and Potential Litigation

Abstract

Competitive video gaming is rapidly gaining mainstream attention. Major U.S. television networks have commenced broadcasting such competitions. The term esports has been assigned to the practice, but it remains to be seen whether lawmakers and regulators agree that the contests are indeed sports. This paper provides a comprehensive examination, analysis, and application of the tests that have previously been used to determine whether an activity is a sport. We illustrate potential streams of litigation, some of which are specific to activities classified as sport. The emergence of esports in the United States has highlighted the absence of a legal definition of sport. Be it the newest form of sport or not, esports afford a glimpse to the future of creative competition, business innovation, and the related legal, policy, and litigation implications emerging alongside this new (sporting or otherwise competitive) activity.

Esports Research: A Literature Review

“…For this reason, classification of esports as sport or computer game is a frequent point of discussion in esports law because sports enjoy special accommodations in federal and international laws. As Holden, Kaburakis, and Rodenberg (2017) noted, the legitimacy convenience granted by classifying esports as sports would, similarly, come with oversight; there seems to be tacit agreement that esports is en route to classification and regulation similar to traditional sports, although formal litigation models have only been suggested, not established in any state at time of writing.…”

Demographics and Health Behavior of Video Game and eSports Players in Germany: The eSports Study 2019

“…To date, most research pertains to the fields of informatics, media, business, and sociology [5]. Many studies focus, among other things, on whether eSports can be considered a sport [6][7][8], on the economic scope of gaming and eSports [9,10] as well as on the psychological effects of gaming on brain function [11][12][13] and character traits [14][15][16].…”

Doping in e-sports. An empirical exploration and search for sociological interpretations

“…The recognition of e-sports as a sport is problematic, yet the organized competitive playing of video games has seen a rise in many of the problems associated with conventional sport, such as match-fixing or using performance enhancing drugs (Holden et al 2017). In 2014, Bjoern Franzen, a former employee of a major video game company, drew the attention of the media to the issue of doping in e-sports, publicly admitting that it was an enormous problem.…”

“…Sanctioning e-sports within a given legislative system in order to construe it as sport could be beneficial; but simultaneously, it would also result in unwanted (yet unintentional) consequences due to e-sports being subject to the rules designed for traditional sport. It seems that the actors in the e-sports social world have reached a certain agreement (which does not concern combating doping) to maintain the convenient status quo of e-sports and assume that e-sports is moving a good way toward the classifications and regulations similar to those in traditional sport, even though the actions in this respect have so far only been proposed and still need legitimisation (Holden et al 2017).…”