The Geopolitical Economy of Esports

1. Introduction

Simon Chadwick, Yue Meng-Lewis, Donna Wong, and Paul Widdop 

Part I: The Geopolitical Economy of Esports 

2. The Geopolitical Economy of Esports: Where Commercial Interests and Public Policy Converge in a New Emerging Landscape

Baro Hyun

3. Esports and Economic Development: An Emerging Industry

Riccardo Caristi

4. Concentration and Control of Organized Esports: E-Dominance

Laurel Walzak and Louis-Etienne Dubois

5. Geopolitical Influences on Esports Finances

Christina Philippou and Sarthak Mondal

6. Esports Alongside Olympic Values

Christian Wacker and Mattias Krug

7. The IOC’s Youth Quest and China’s Esports Power Play: A Big Top-Down

Lingling Liu and Dan Zhang

8. Nation Branding, Esports Diplomacy and the Olympic Movement

Yoav Dubinsky

9. Football Clubs and Esports: A Global Strategy for Cultural and Media Expansion

Nahuel Ivan Faedo and Bradley James Baker

10. Real Cycling in a Virtual World: Zwift

Thomas Ross Griffin

11. Esports Mercenaries and Their Role as Stateless Economic Agents

Elaine Pringle Schwitter 

Part II: China 

12. China’s Esports Ecosystem: The Geopolitical Implications of a Growing Industry

Bingjie Wang

13. China and Esports in the Global South: From Corporate Actions to Geopolitical and Economic Cooperation?

Huitao Ren and Fangni Li

14. The Marginal-Mainstream Transition of Esports in China: A Government Perspective

Guojun (Sawyer) He, Simon Chadwick, Weiwei Zhang and Yiying Chen

15. Nationalism and Cultural Conflicts Among Chinese Esports Fans Supporting Foreign Players: Clash of Loyalties

Shuqi Li

16. Gaming as a Cultural Export: Exploring the Global Success of Chinese Games

Tobias Ross and Jonathan Sullivan

17. The Reasons, Responses, Results and Recommendations of the Gaming Time Limit Policy in China: “A ‘70-year-old Grandma’ Gets a Pentakill in the Rift at Midnight”

Lucy (Xiuqi) Zhu 

Part III: Saudi Arabia 

18. Saudi Arabia's Integrated Influence Strategy in Global Esports: Beyond Soft Power

David B Roberts

19. Saudi Arabia’s Esports Revolution: Sports, Tech-Diplomacy, and Nation Branding to Build a New Global Power

Krishna Satish, Xavier Ginesta Portet and Jordi de San Eugenio

20. Hosting the Future of the Olympic Games: Saudi Kingdom or Esports Kingdom?

Mahdi Shariati Feizabadi and Pascal Courty

21. Exploring the Esports Ecosystem in Poland, Saudi Arabia, and Morocco: Gaming Across Borders

Olivier Jarosz, Konstantin Kornakov, Adam Metelski and Fathi Abou El Gadaiel

22. Saudi Arabia's Sponsorship and Engagement in UK and European Esports Organisations

Matthew Hutchinson 

Part IV: Asia 

23. Leveling Up: Esports and National Ambitions in the Middle East

Abdulla Alfalasi, Mohammad Alobadi and Christos Anagnostopoulos

24. Strategic Initiatives in Gaming and Esports: The UAE's Digital Playground

Leonardo Jacopo Maria Mazzucco and Kristian Patrick Alexander

25. The Sociopolitical and Psychological Landscape of Iranian Women in Esports: Controllers and Stereotypes

Mohammad Khazaei

26. The Evolution and Business of Esports in India

Abhishek Khajuria

27. The Geopolitical Economy of Esports in India

Mohit Anand and Abhishek Kumar Jha

28. Rise of Indian Esports: Nationalist Identity and Geopolitical Vision at Play

Divyansh Sachan

29. Singapore’s Role in the Global Esports Race: Game On

Donna Wong and Yue Meng-Lewis

30. Governance and Gaming: The Case of Singapore’s Esports Academy

Alyson Tan Si Min

31. Systemic Esports Development in South Korea: Paving the Way for Faker and Other ‘Elite’ Players

Sanghyeon Kim

32. Vietnamese Esports in Transition: From Grassroots to National Strategy in a Geopolitical Arena

Florian Lefebvre

33. Overcoming Invisible Cultural Barriers to Esports Development: Japan’s Next Quest

Ricardo Gúdel, Emilio Hernández-Correa and Marta Di Battista 

Part V: Europe and the Rest of the World 

34. Strategic Partnerships and Alliances in Esports in Europe and Their Geopolitical Implications

Raphael E. Prifti and Cem Tinaz

35. The Symbolic Value of Esports Megaevents: A London and League of Legends Worlds Case Study

Josh Jarrett and David Murphy

36. The Rise of Amateur Esports and the Role of Education in Britain

Mike Griffiths

37. Esports Wales and the Value of Localisation to Power International Success

Cameron Vanloo

38. The Role of Esports as a Tool of Public Diplomacy: Opportunities for Brazil on the Global Stage

Nathalia Vicentini Aguiar

39. The Socio-cultural and Economic Dynamics of the Emergence of Esports in Zimbabwe

Manase Kudzai Chiweshe

40. Esports and International Sanctions: An Overview of Measures and Responses on Russian Esports

Timur Absalyamov and Mathias Schubert

Biography

Simon Chadwick is Professor of AfroEurasian Sport at Emlyon Business School, China.

Yue Meng-Lewis is Senior Lecturer/Associate Professor in Digital Marketing at the Open University, UK.

Donna Wong is Senior Lecturer in Sport Management at Keele University, UK.

Paul Widdop is Reader in Sport Business at Manchester Metropolitan University, UK.