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The purpose of this paper is to study virtual resistance towards the introduction of Norway's first professional eSport league in the category of sport video games (SVGs), Eserien – the professional FIFA league and its inclusion in the Norwegian Football Federation.

A qualitative content analysis of texts published from the first season of Eserien was launched (December 2018) and during the first season of Eserien (April 2019 to December 2019) in Norwegian online spaces. Based on this approach, a total of 23 texts were subjected to a qualitative content analysis. The theoretical framework for the analysis of the material is Guttmann's (1978/2004) characteristics of modern sport and processes of sportification, as well as conceptualizations of the sport-health ideology in national and international sport policies today.

The arguments made against the inclusion of the professional FIFA league Eserien as part of the Norwegian Football Federation revolves around three main themes: (1) eSport as something unhealthy and inactive, (2) issues of cheating and match fixing in professional eSports and (3) threats professionalized eSport poses for traditional football clubs and players in terms of securing sponsorship and gaining media attention.

A limitation is the small sample size consisting of data from the first season of the first professional FIFA league organized by a Norwegian governing sport body. More research is needed to support the results found here, and readers should be careful to transfer the findings from this study to other sporting contexts.

This study is an empirical exploration of resistance towards eSport expressed by traditional sport fans. These insights expand on existing sport management research on spectators, commercialization and professionalization of eSport.

Despite to useful relevance to better understand how group-level identity develops, few studies have explored the identity theory in the esports field and, in particular, considering the impact of a fan's role identity. The current study aims to explore esports fan role-identity vis-à-vis the relationship with the sponsor and the sponsee so as to understand the effects on their behavioral intentions.

Using a sample of 356 esports fans who attended the 2021 FPF eFootball Open Challenge, a Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) analyzed the psychometric properties of the constructs and a subsequent Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) examined the effects of fan identity on two types of behavioral intentions and sponsor–sponsee relationship.

Results indicate that fans who highly identify with esports have the highest attachment to the event and tend toward having a positive word-of-mouth intention. Esports fans who have a higher brand identification reported a positive attitude toward the event's sponsor brand and tend to purchase its products. Moreover, the study findings also provide evidence of the bidirectional interaction between the way in which fans attach with the esports event and its sponsor brand, leading to greater reciprocity in their identity formation.

This study helps to understand how the fan identity process can enhance its fate and develop mutually, building role overlapping identity in the esports sponsor–sponsee relationship. Complementarily, it supports of how the marketeers and managers must analyze the importance of being a fan to the individual in order to understand how its self-identity can shape the future behavior.