20/06/2023; event: “The World of Media Transition” International Scientific Seminar; The Laboratory of Media Studies at the University of Warsaw, Faculty of Journalism, Information, and Book Studies, University of Warsaw

1. MEDIA SPORTS AND
ESPORTS DURING
THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC
THE WORLD OF MEDIA TRANSITION
INTERNATIONAL SCIENTIFIC SEMINAR
FACULTY OF JOURNALISM, INFORMATION, AND BOOK STUDIES, UNIVERSITY OF WARSAW
WARSAW / 20 JUNE 2023
PIOTRSIUDA.COM

2. THE PROJECT
In Poland, the first case of COVID-19 was
found on March 4, 2020.
From March 20, 2020, to May 15, 2022,
the Polish Ministry of Health imposed a
series of intensive lockdowns.
Sporting events were canceled and
esports flourished....
PIOTR SIUDA
KAZIMIERZ WIELKI
UNIVERSITY

3. THE TEAM
Michał
Jasny
AWF in Warsaw
Martyna
Sitek
AWF in Warsaw
Dobrosław
Mańkowski
Gdańsk University

4. PAPERS
Siuda, P., Jasny, M., Mańkowski, D., Sitek, M. (2023). The
problematic nature of evaluating esports’ “genuineness” using
traditional sports’ criteria: In-depth interviews with traditional
sports and electronic sports journalists, Leisure Studies.
Siuda, P., Jasny, M., Mańkowski, M. (2023; in press) “It Was All
Without Emotions, and This Wasn’t the Same Anymore”:
“Replacing” Traditional Sports with Esports During the COVID-19
Pandemic [in] Gaming and Gamers in Times of Pandemic, Siuda, P,
Majewski, J, Chmielewski, K. (eds), Bloomsbury Academic.

5. CONTENT
01
02
03
04
05
06
REASONS
AIMS
METHODS
FINDINGS (EXPECTED)
FINDINGS (UNEXPECTED)
THE BROADER RELEVANCE

6. REASONS
The pandemic spotlighted esports.

7. ESPORTS DEFINITION
“Classical” esports – organized, competitive playing of
video games.
League of Legends; Counter-Strike: Global Offensive;
DOTA; EA Sports FIFA.
The application of various mixed reality (MR) solutions
and sports video games to traditional sports.
We understand MR as an experience that merges a real
and virtual environments, with physical and virtual
objects co-existing and interacting in real-time.

8. ESPORTS
Researchers reported
remarkable growth in the
popularity of esports.
Gaming and esports sector
was the one that was
affected the least from the
markets fall.
46%

9. Traditional sports,
because of the
pandemic, are somehow
compelled to move
closer to esports
(this is permanent).
01 02 03 04
The pandemic changed
the fundamental
meaning of sports
brands, audience
viewing behaviors, and
sponsors’ investment
preferences.
During the lockdowns,
esports temporarily
“replaced” traditional
sports in many different
disciplines, such as
cycling, football, or
Formula 1.
Sports simulators such
as the FIFA series and
Zwift became solutions
for sports media
industries to cope with
the difficulties of
canceling sports events.

16. AIMS
The projection was that, in a post-pandemic world,
esports would become an extension of sports.
We were more skeptical: the lockdowns merely
provided a temporary opportunity for the growth of
esports as substitute for traditional sports.

17. METHODS
Qualitative study.

18. Point 1.
IN-DEPTH INTERVIEWS
Insiders, media people
(i.e., journalists
representing the top-
tier media in Poland),
wide spectrum of
media (i.e., television,
radio, press, and
internet platforms).
Point 2.
Six esports journalists; nine traditional
sports journalists.
Point 3.
Conventional content
analysis, with the
results formatted as
thematic analysis with
the classification
process of coding and
identifying patterns.

19. FINDINGS
Expected ones.

20. BRIDGING GAPS...
The interviewees argued that the pandemic forced sports broadcasters
to use online resources more widely. This was particularly evident in the
case of esports, as it has become the only available safe substitute for
traditional sports.
For this reason, video games were viewed more positively and
sometimes noticed for the first time in the context of sports.

21. ADVANTAGES
Online races involving well-
known sports celebritiies
(e.g. Lewis Hamilton or
Thibaut Courtois), with
amateurs having a chance to
compete with their favorite
athletes.
It directly referred to
traditional sports;
The perfect solution:
1.
2. It required physical effort;
3. It was not strictly
associated with “classical”
esports.
Running marathons or half-
marathons with the help of
mobile applications was
another popular way of
dealing with lockdowns.
FORMULA 1 ZWIFT RUNNING

22. LIMITATIONS
REASON 1
The risk of
transmitting a
virus will be
marginal,
REASON 2
Direct contact
is essential for
journalistic
work.
REASON 3
Alternatives are
less attractive
(no crowds;
commenting).
As the pandemic progressed, the vast majority of journalists
(and also athletes, and fans) expected a return to what they
had known before the pandemic.

23. It’s like someone has cut off one of our hands. If we have three or four
hours of broadcasting, or even more, this is the information we
normally use ..., and sometimes we manage to get the attention of
fans. And they do like these comments. It’s not strictly about cycling,
because you can only talk about cycling for those freaks who are
crazy about the sport, but this is not a large group. And then these
stages would not have such viewership, sometimes around 250,000.
And that was missing in the virtual world, and this whole Zwift’s
utopia was not perfect …. There was nothing to talk about. It was
practically the same view all the time. Of course, we could do trivia
about the cyclists, or the specificity of virtual racing, but it was very
difficult and not the same.
INTERVIEWEE

24. ESPORTS' PROBLEMS
Did the growth resulted from
the alternatives being
introduced?
Esports viewership had been
growing year after year even
before the lockdowns.
The interpenetration of
traditional and electronic
sports during the pandemic
revealed the lack of
professionalism of esports
organizations.
1) Players often use
offensive language; 2) the
majority of the online
content is of poor quality;3)
broadcasting on prime time
is highly problematic
because some popular
games are intended for
adults only.
GROWTH TELEVISION STREAMING

27. SKEPTICISM TOWARD ESPORTS
The interviewees stressed that despite the experience of lockdowns, sports and esports
still “occupy different places in society."
People who identify with traditional or electronic sports were characterized by a
“different lifestyle.”
The interviewees highlighted generational differences, and believed esports is primarily
for young people.
During the pandemic, esports was primarily a kind of “life raft” for: 1) traditional sports
organizations; 2) media facing a huge crisis. Esports turned out to be very useful during
the lockdowns, but will not be needed in the long run.

28. NOT THAT LONG-IMPACT
The study casts doubt on research that stressed the long-term impact
of lockdowns on traditional sports and esports.
We argue against the view that some kind of enduring confluence
between esports and sports was forged as a result of the lockdowns.
Great care should be taken when analyzing and juxtaposing esports and
traditional sports. Rather, these should be understood as separate
phenomena.

29. FINDINGS
Unexpected ones.

30. ESPORTS VS. SPORTS
Both groups differed in their
assessments, with esports
journalists being more
positive toward esports.
Juxtaposing traditional
sports with esports to
evaluate the latter seems
problematic.
Using the criteria designed
to judge traditional sports,
with their roots dating back
to the nineteenth century
might not be suitable for
esports.
Esports’ lack of physical
activity never came up in
interviews with esports
journalists. However,
traditional journalists
believe that esports is not
“real” because it is not
physical.
JOURNALISTS INSTITUTIONALIZATION PHYSICAL ACTIVITY

31. But when it comes to taking care of, you
know, the body, it has nothing to do with
the ideas of sport . . . You know, Athenian,
Greek, Olympics, right?
I’m an old-school type of guy . . . I’m too old maybe,
but for me, physical effort is an inherent part of
sports. Well, of course, some will say, okay, there is
also a lot of activity in esports; they lose a lot of
calories, for sure. But is it a sport? Well . . . No . . .
This is esports, and let’s just call it such.
INTERVIEWEES

32. THE BROADER
RELEVANCE
Of both the expected and unexpected outcomes.

33. Point 1.
THEORETICAL IMPLICATIONS
Instead of talking
about esports based
on criteria taken from
conventional sports,
we should try to create
separate esports’
categories and
concepts.
Point 2.
Organized competitive
playing of video games
cannot be the frame to
which esports needs to
fit, and the very use of
the term esports
negates its new quality.
Point 3.
Instead of focusing on
the “realness” of
esports the research
needs to focus on how
different groups or
communities,
organizations, etc.,
evaluate esports and
what criteria they use
for these evaluations.

34. Point 4.
SOME OTHER IMPLICATIONS
The issue of gaining
acceptance as to be
considered a “real”
sport may not be as
important as widely
considered. The effort
could be directed at
showing that esports is
an important but
separate cultural
phenomenon.
Point 5.
Research carried out in
other countries or
regions could yield
different results.
The present qualitative
study could be a
starting point for
further analysis,
including cross-cultural
ones.
Point 6.
The results of the
presented research
can be treated as a
kind of “map” showing
the complex nature
and the new quality of
esports, but also the
need to escape from
the inquiries into the
“genuineness” of
esports.

35. Piotr Siuda
Kazimierz Wielki University
piotr@ukw.edu.pl
piotrsiuda.com
THANK'S FOR
WATCHING