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Are Esports the Next Big Varsity Draw? An Exploratory Study of 522 University e-Athletes

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Proceedings of the Future Technologies Conference (FTC) 2019 (FTC 2019)

Part of the book series: Advances in Intelligent Systems and Computing ((AISC,volume 1070))

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Abstract

The spectacular rise of esports has persuaded the Paris 2024 bid team to consider adding them to the lineup. Esports are winning social and professional recognition and gaining a foothold at universities. This article reviews the fledging research on esports and presents the conclusions of a study on the esports practices of 522 university e-athletes. The four-fold aim was to: (1) determine their training methods and conditions, (2) describe their physical training routines, (3) describe their e-sport practices and experiences, and (4) better assess the potential for esports to achieve recognition as legitimate sports. Relationships between esports and academia were also examined. The originality of this study lies in the investigation of a forward-thinking research field that is poised to soar.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    BBC Sport: https://www.bbc.com/sport/olympics/43893891.

  2. 2.

    THE ESPORTS OBSERVER: https://esportsobserver.com/team-vitality-orange-partnership/.

  3. 3.

    Translated from the French transcript.

  4. 4.

    http://emotiv.com.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Montreal, Montreal, Canada

    Thierry Karsenti

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  1. Thierry Karsenti
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Correspondence to Thierry Karsenti .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Science and Engineering, Saga University, Saga, Japan

    Kohei Arai

  2. The Science and Information (SAI) Organization, Bradford, West Yorkshire, UK

    Rahul Bhatia

  3. The Science and Information (SAI) Organization, Bradford, West Yorkshire, UK

    Supriya Kapoor

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Karsenti, T. (2020). Are Esports the Next Big Varsity Draw? An Exploratory Study of 522 University e-Athletes. In: Arai, K., Bhatia, R., Kapoor, S. (eds) Proceedings of the Future Technologies Conference (FTC) 2019. FTC 2019. Advances in Intelligent Systems and Computing, vol 1070. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-32523-7_37

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