Who Builds Esports? Power, Pressure, and the People Behind the Screens

Esports is often described as a multi-billion-dollar industry, but the figures used to support that description frequently combine competitive gaming with betting and other adjacent activity. This paper examines the global esports ecosystem from 2016 to 2026 through 22 stakeholder groups. It asks where control, revenue and risk sit, and how they have shifted over the decade. The study is based on desk research: market data, company filings, publisher and organiser announcements, legal texts, peer-reviewed literature and specialist journalism. Key claims are graded on a five-tier evidence hierarchy. No interviews or surveys were conducted. Audience measurement remains inconsistent: peak viewership figures for a single event differ several-fold across sources. Legal protection for players also varies widely by jurisdiction. The paper closes with seven testable hypotheses for 2026–2030 and recommendations for publishers, regulators, organisers and market-research providers. The paper is current to September 2026 and includes 164 references and 26 tables. It is a revised and fully cited edition of the author’s earlier industry white paper.