Governance challenges in esports: a best practice framework for addressing integrity and wellbeing issues

Abstract

ABSTRACT The exponential growth of esports gives rise to a number of regulatory and governance issues which expose a number of different stakeholders, including vulnerable, young participants, to potential harms. This paper examines critical challenges which currently exist in the esports ecosystem, namely integrity and participant wellbeing, with the aim of addressing the knowledge deficit in relation to best practice governance and policy process aimed at protecting relevant stakeholders in esports. Using a corporate governance framework previously developed by Burger and Goslin, this paper also generates governance reform options in relation to the identified critical issues whilst having regard to the inherently commercial and networked nature of the sector. The paper proposes an integrated policy process model to address the practicality of developing and implementing a robust, dynamic governance system with a focus upon close engagement with stakeholders to influence legitimacy of protectionist policy. This paper builds upon earlier literature on governance and policy process in sport and proposes a research agenda to address the need for governance in this burgeoning landscape.