The value of esports football. Towards new models of consumption and participatory experience in Italy

ABSTRACT The growth of esports due to the suspension of live sporting events highlights a change in the consumption of ‘mediated' sports. While traditional sports have come to a halt, the data highlights how, conversely, the number of following e-sports events on streaming platforms such as Twitch has increased. Starting from the recent digital acceleration of sport world (for techniques and regulations of the game, dissemination sports content, management processes) the paper investigates on how much the relationship between football and efootball can affect the reconfiguration of dynamics of play and use and business models. Through a quantitative analysis, we wanted to understand the behaviour of e-football spectators and e-sportsmen who experience Fifa at an amateur level. The research was conducted in 2021 in Italy, involving 316 young adults (18–35 y.o.) belonging to the community of Fifa eplayers and viewers present on the Twitch platform. The main aspect that emerges from the research field is the ‘sportification' of e-sports as a process of participatory experience within a complementary consumption between football and e-football.