2026-09-23T15:36:24Z https://www.ideals.illinois.edu/oai-pmh

oai:www.ideals.illinois.edu:2142/132523 2026-02-20 col_2142_5131 col_2142_8800 com_2142_5130 com_2142_5132

application/pdf en text Submission original under an indefinite embargo labeled 'Open Access'. The submission was exported from vireo on 2026-02-19 without embargo terms The student, Aaron Surratt, accepted the attached license on 2025-11-21 at 15:31. The student, Aaron Surratt, submitted this Dissertation for approval on 2025-11-21 at 15:56. This Dissertation was approved for publication on 2025-11-25 at 12:40. DSpace SAF Submission Ingestion Package generated from Vireo submission #22924 on 2026-02-19 at 18:25:16 Esports implementation in higher education: a quantitative analysis Surratt, Aaron Troy 2025-11-25 Baber, Lorenzo D Baber, Lorenzo D Tabb Dina, Karen Hale, Jon Bruno, Paul college higher education esports quantitative analysist video games eng 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. 2025-12 Thesis https://hdl.handle.net/2142/132523 Copyright 2025 Aaron Surratt Educ Policy, Orgzn & Leadrshp Educ Policy, Orgzn & Leadrshp University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Ph.D. Dissertation