THE CHALLENGE OF COLLEGIATE ESPORTS INSTITUTIONALIZATION REQUIRES PARTNERSHIPS BETWEEN STUDENTS AND UNIVERSITIES

Universities are missing the chance to develop truly innovative, participatory esports spaces and cultures–the only thing that can combat the challenges they face. We performed semi-structured interviews with professionals from universities developing esports programs and broader institutions (such as TESPA and athletic conferences) attempting to guide and govern collegiate esports development. Our findings suggest that theoretical discussions about whether esports are a “real” sport or not are also playing out on an administrative level, esports programs’ diffusion is crucially impacted by key actors in the universities with subcultural knowledge, and that toxic gamer culture is a serious obstacle to esports growth. Esports are
at a crucial point in their institutionalization—recognized as important but not clearly understood or settled. This moment is a
chance to fully realize the potential of participatory culture in mainstream institutions, but it can only be realized through
partnership between students, faculty, staff, and administration.