Esports and the Spatial Legitimation of a Market

John, Charlotte and Cocker, Hayley and Skandalis, Alex (2025) Esports and the Spatial Legitimation of a Market. PhD thesis, Lancaster University.

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Abstract

Prior work has explored how space and place can be utilised to change or disrupt a market, primarily focusing on how institutional actors create and make use of such spaces (e.g. Kellogg, 2009; Cartel et al., 2019; Furnari 2014). However, the role of space and place in institutionalisation remains somewhat under-explored (Lawrence & Dover, 2015; Wright et al., 2023). This thesis contributes to this area of research by exploring the role of space and place in the creation of a market and its impact on legitimation processes. Drawing on institutional theory as an enabling lens, the Esports market is used as the research context for this study. Competitive video game playing has grown exponentially over the past two decades to become an estimated $1.6 billion industry (Mintel, 2023). Through semi-structured interviews and archival research, this thesis examines the legitimation stages of the Esports market and the various roles that offline and online spaces play in the legitimation process. The findings of this study highlight that space and place can have three key effects on the legitimation of the market: building, conferring, and constraining. Contributions to prior work are made by examining the role of space and place within the co-creation of a market (e.g. Giesler, 2008; Brandstad & Solem, 2020), the mimicking and borrowing of established practices (e.g. DiMaggio & Powell, 1983; Kjellberg & Olson, 2017), and the role of governments in market growth (e.g. Koch & Ulver, 2022; Huff et al., 2021). The effect of these roles on the legitimation of a market is also explored. It is suggested that future research could build upon this work to assess the applicability of the findings to other markets.