In the last decades, the market for digital games has grown to nearly
$100 billion. During this growth, a special gaming segment and community
formed surrounding the direct competitive aspect of games: eSports. The
core of eSports is similar to traditional types of sport. Players train
to become better, clubs are established, tournaments are organized and
fans enjoy watching their game being played on the highest level of
performance. With viewers and prize money in the millions, eSports have
grown into an economically significant media sport ecosystem and a
marketing landscape that started to attract non-endemic companies as
advertisers and sponsors. This book analyzes the components of the
eSports ecosystem as well as their interactions with each other.
Furthermore, the attitude of eSports fans towards engagements of
non-endemic companies is researched by using a real case study including
the Electronic Sports League and German home loan bank Wustenrot.