ABSTRACT
This research aimed to determine if the negative public view on videogames is a threat to esports sponsors. To accomplish this, the research design was exploratory with mixed methods. The sample comprised 5,638 esports fans, who filled out a mostly quantitative online survey. Quantitative data was processed via SPSS 25 and qualitative data through NVivo 10. The results showed that most esports fans feel this negativity from the general public and the large majority have been forced to hide their interest for esports because of it. Although competitive gaming has been evolving quite rapidly, the field is still poorly researched, particularly the specific topic of esports sponsoring. Ergo, the findings are quite relevant to promote further studies in academia and to inform both potential and existing esports sponsors that wish to improve their understanding of how the negative public view on videogames can damage their brands as well as to learn how to proactively mitigate this threat.
