Learning from eSports: A review, comparison, and research agenda.

Competitive video gaming, presently defined and widely known as eSports, has been rising rapidly in popularity. Accordingly, research in eSports has gained interest for scholars to study the eSport industry in greater depth. However, much research has assumed eSports as the minority compared to traditional sport and rarely has explored the implications that can apply to the established traditional sport industry and marketing practices. In fact, eSport viewership is now similar to or higher than traditional sports, such as Major League Baseball (MLB). Thus, the eSport industry has now advanced to the point where their unique characteristics can significantly impact the overall sport industry. As eSports has grown rapidly enough to be considered as the mainstream industry, identifying the unique but positive aspects of eSports and considering applying eSports' strengths to traditional sports is necessary. This research is one of the first attempts to provide the unique characteristics of eSports by presenting an in-depth comparison with traditional sports and a comprehensive literature review. This study's contribution will be to broaden research opportunities in eSports and marketing literature. Ideas for future research and directions will also be discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]