ABSTRACT
Digital elements have driven change in the sports industry landscape over the past few years. This chapter focuses on the rapid rise of esports, one of these drivers. Major sport industry stakeholders have decided to embrace esports, with high-profile examples including the National Basketball League (NBA) (building its own esports league, NBA 2K) and the Asian Games (demonstration event in 2018; full medal event in 2022). Esports are a high growth area of consideration for sports and entertainment properties and agencies around the globe. Esports have emerged from the global and rapid growth of video games, where players have sought both chances to compete in their video game(s) of choice but also to be able to watch the very best players of that game compete. Esports is not a single sport like football or sailing; esports encompasses many sports, as many as there are competitive computer games.
