The problematic nature of evaluating esports’ “genuineness” using traditional sports’ criteria: In-depth interviews with traditional sports and electronic sports journalists

ABSTRACT

Researchers often use traditional sports’ theoretical frameworks to evaluate esports’ ‘genuineness’. Therefore, this article shows how esports is assessed by traditional sports and esports journalists and how this is important for esports research. We conducted semi-structured in-depth interviews (n = 15) with the journalists representing top-tier Polish media and used inductive conventional content analysis. Three main analytical categories and ten subcategories indicate how the two types of journalists differ in their assessments of esports being or not being ‘real’ sport. The results highlight how problematic it is to use traditional sports as a frame into which esports needs to fit. We indicate the misconceptions of this approach and propose more inductive ones (e.g. searching for esports’ distinct frameworks or revealing those used by different groups or communities). Also, our research has some practical implications and is a kind of ‘map’ showing the esports’ new quality and its complex nature.

KEYWORDS:

• Esports
• traditional sports
• journalism
• COVID-19
• esports research

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This work was not supported by any Funding Agency.

Notes on contributors

Piotr Siuda

Piotr Siuda is a media and game studies scholar, Associate Professor at the Institute of Social Communication and Media at the Kazimierz Wielki University in Bydgoszcz, Poland. His research interests include gamers communities, esports, media sports.

Michał Jasny

Michał Jasny is a sports science scholar, Assistant Professor at the Department of Humanities and Social Sciences at the University of Physical Education in Warsaw, Poland. He is a member of the Polish Sociological Association and The European Association for Sociology of Sport.

Dobrosław Mańkowski

Dobrosław Mańkowski is a sociologist, Researcher at the Institute of Sociology at the University of Gdansk.

Martyna Sitek

Martyna Sitek is a PhD student at the Department of Humanities and Social Sciences at the University of Physical Education in Warsaw, Poland. Main research interests include sociology of sport and body, media studies, and sociology of medicine.