Discussion Outline: October 31

Group: Selena Chen, Jonah Brook, Scott MacDonald, Bas Van Schaik

Discussion Topic: Esport: Gaining Traction

Hello everyone! This week’s topic will be esports, its growth, governance, labour, and international components.

1. Esports: Emulating the Traditional “Big Sports” (Scott)

• Consideration of what is sports?
• Highly skilled nerds or legitimate athletes?
• Case study: Overwatch League
• How esports has copied traditional big sports structure and formula of success
• The growing market and demand for esports
• Big sports ownership has taken notice and invested
• Overwatch league expansion and global markets a discussion of international issues

2. Esports Governance and Gambling (Jonah)

• Introduction to (lack of) esports regulatory bodies
• Discussion of the developer-driven nature of esports and potential issues – using Blizzard Entertainment as a case study
• A brief introduction to esports gambling and issues within that industry
• And finally the overlap: match-fixing in esports

3. Labour Conditions Within the Esport Industry (Selena)

• Brief discussion regarding the benefits of being in the industry – what makes being a professional gamer appealing to youths
• Discussion regarding the downsides of being in the industry – examples of restrictive contracts, blacklisting, and pay dispute
• Discussion regarding contracts signed by players in the industry – example of an abusive contract
• Discussion regarding working conditions of a professional gamer
• Discussion of potential solutions and future trends of the industry with regards to its treatment of professional gamers

4.  International aspects: Dispute resolution & immigration (Bas)

• Brief introduction to forms of dispute resolution in esports
• Discussion regarding (specialized) arbitral tribunals
• A brief introduction to immigration in international sports
• Discussion regarding the different policies in north america and its implications in future esports events

Preparation for presentation

In preparation for next week’s presentation, please watch the following video regarding how esports is changing the perception of gamers.

Click on the image below to link to the video: 

Look forward to seeing you all on Wednesday!