Esports implementation in higher education: a quantitative analysis

eSports is a billion-dollar industry globally, and colleges and universities have begun to implement their own eSports programs. At the same time, an enrollment cliff that has its seeds in the 2008 economic crisis has finally come to bear for higher education. Colleges must find a way to adapt in a new environment where there are fewer potential students to recruit. Institutional Theory, specifically Loose Coupling, provides a way to examine how institutions change and what factors currently have a relationship with eSports implementation. This study investigates whether the Carnegie Research Classification, Institutional Financial Health, Athletic Conference Affiliation, and Athletic Budget Size are associated with the implementation of eSports in higher education. I hypothesized that lower Carnegie Research Focus, stronger financial health, conference affiliation, and larger athletic budgets would have negative relationships with eSports implementation. This study employed quantitative methods, specifically linear regression models, to investigate the relationship between institutional characteristics that may influence the implementation of eSports. Data from the Equity in Athletics Disclosure Act Database, the Knight-Newhouse Athletics Database, and the Integrated Postsecondary Education System database were utilized to examine the relationships. The study found that enrollment size, higher research focus, expenses per student, debt as a percentage of institutional expenses, and conference affiliation had a statistically significant increase in percentage point implementation, while endowment size and percentage of total budget that is athletics had statistically significant negative impacts in percentage point implementation. These results practically affect practitioners who may be tasked with implementing a new eSports team, policymakers who may be deciding whether to implement eSports at their institutions, and future researchers can take the results of this study and examine specific research questions in greater detail or change the sample sizes to include private institutions or add additional levels of traditional athletic competition.

Name thesis:degree_name

Ph.D.

Level thesis:degree_level

Dissertation

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Educ Policy, Orgzn & Leadrshp

Grantor

University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

Year dc:date

2025

Author dc:creator

• Surratt, Aaron Troy

Contributors dc:contributor

• Baber, Lorenzo D
• Tabb Dina, Karen
• Hale, Jon
• Bruno, Paul

• college
• higher education
• esports
• quantitative analysist
• video games

Statement dc:rights

• Copyright 2025 Aaron Surratt

Language dc:language

en

Handle dc:identifier

https://hdl.handle.net/2142/132523

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:www.ideals.illinois.edu:2142/132523