Esports Fans as Players and Their Motivations to Spectate Esports : Case of League of Legends

Abstract: Esports, also known as electronic sports, is constantly growing in popularity, with top competitions attracting audiences comparable to traditional sports events. Prior research has focused on comparing esports with traditional sports. However, a handful of recent studies acknowledged crucial differences between esports and traditional sports, including that the majority of esports fans are also players.  This thesis aims to identify the motivations to spectate League of Legends (LoL) esports by its players. League of Legends is currently the most popular video game on the rapidly growing esports scene, with a player base of 180 million. LoL’s biggest annual tournament, World Championship, was spectated by more than 73 million peak viewers, placing it on top of the World’s Most Watched Esports Matches in 2021. To understand the general motivations to spectate LoL esports, this study adapted and utilized the previously established MSES (Motivation Scale of Esports Spectatorship) scale. The motivations were measured through an online survey that was distributed to online League of Legends communities. The sample included 338 self-identifying esports fans, who actively play League of Legends. The data were described using descriptive statistics and analyzed with the aid of the uses and gratifications theory and fandom theory.  The findings suggest that players’ main motivations to spectate LoL esports revolve around diversion and surveillance, with factors such as competitive nature, skill appreciation, dramatic nature, entertaining nature, game knowledge, competition excitement, and skill improvement being the most significant.  The current thesis presents a study on gratification-related factors of why League of Legends players spectate esports online. Moreover, the study measures a hitherto unstudied effect of virtual rewards on players' motivation. Finally, this thesis provides a more precise approach to motivations to spectate esports and contributes to the understanding of the unique relationship between playing and spectating an esports game.