In light of a growing spectator market, the esports industry has committed considerable effort and resources to satisfy fans’ increasing needs for esports media services and products. In the current study, we adopted the push and pull framework to explore and understand how distinct social, cultural, psychological, and environmental factors would impact esports online viewership. We surveyed a convenience sample of esports online viewers (N = 1,306). Results showed that both push and pull factors should be considered equally important and relevant in esports online viewership albeit they exerted different levels of influence on esports consumption behavior. The findings highlighted the necessity of considering pull factors that have not received much research attention. This study made initial efforts to help decipher the appeal of esports online viewership and provided critical insight into potential business opportunities.
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