The rapidly growing field of esports needs a comprehensive and agreed governance framework to tackle “unhealthy” sponsorships to protect both players and fans, researchers have said. 

Led by Dr Matthew Hutchinson from Keele University Business School, the researchers interviewed a number of UK-based esports competitors and fans, to learn more about their attitudes towards the current levels of governance in the esports industry. 

Their findings, published in the International Journal of Sport Policy and Politics, revealed what they termed as a “wild west” governance landscape, with a vulnerable financial structure, imbalance of power, and a lack of representation for stakeholders such as players and fans at the highest levels of the industry. 

In 2022 the global esports market was valued at $1.384 billion, a figure expected to grow to $1.866 billion by 2025. Sponsorship provides by far the largest proportion of this revenue, contributing $837 million in 2022. 

Currently, the regulation of sponsorship within esports is piecemeal, as tournaments and teams devise their own rules, with no discernible standardisation between them, resulting in a rise in “unhealthy” brands sponsoring esports events and teams, such as those promoting fast food, alcohol, gambling, or cryptocurrency. 

The public health sector has renewed its scrutiny of esports in recent years, due to concerns that it could put fans and players at risk of problems such as an inactive or sedentary lifestyle, poor diet, poor mental health, and problem gambling. 

These fears have led some tournaments to ban certain sponsor product categories like gambling companies, cryptocurrencies, political campaigns and several alcohol products. 

But despite these concerns, the researchers found that both players and fans felt powerless to influence the sponsorship decisions that take place in the industry, due to esports’ over-reliance on sponsorship revenue.  

Instead, a multistakeholder approach and individual responsibilisation is proposed to address the challenges, with Dr Matthew Hutchinson, a Lecturer in Sport Business Management, saying: “Esports sponsorships from unhealthy brands are rising, but banning them could harm the industry financially according to our participants, showing a conflict between reality and ideality.  

“We suggest a governance model that incorporates a multistakeholder approach, and with education on healthy and moderate consumption at the heart of it, to allow agency for individuals, rather than an outright ban of sponsors.”