The Growing Popularity of eSports Events: Insights from Parents

Abstract

The article discusses the growing popularity of eSports events and aims to understand the parents’ perspective towards eSports and eSports events. As the growth of eSport events presents an opportunity of the tourism industry. The study used a qualitative approach utilising a semi-structured interview. The discussion of this semi-structured interviews forms part of a greater research study on eSports in South Africa, and these results are just preliminary results from an eSport event held high school in May 2023. The study found that parents have a positive perspective towards eSports events and are supportive of their children participating in them. The study also found that eSports events are relatively new and that there is a lack of research on parents’ perspective of eSports tournaments. The study recommends further research to understand the motivations of participants and spectators to attend on-site eSports events, the expenses of children participating in eSports, and the benefits of eSports as an event. The article also defines eSports and the different types of eSports games, and discusses the adoption of eSports as a sport. The study provides valuable insights into the growing popularity of eSports events and the need for further research in this area.