Esports and the Law (LAWS90157)
Graduate courseworkPoints: 12.5Not available in 2025
About this subject
Overview
| Fees | Look up fees |
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Esports refers to elite level competitive video gaming, often in the form of professional events (league competitions, tournaments, championships or battle/match) and typically between contracted gamers or sponsored teams. In the past decade, esports’s business model has developed rapidly from one initially based on individual game publishers to the contemporary multi-stakeholder industry that is projected to have revenues of AUD$2 billion in 2022 and a fan base on over a 1 billion in the same year. Esports leagues and franchises are now aligned with leading global sports entities such as the NBA and FIFA and it is being discussed to be included in future Olympic Games. This rapid growth and investment from traditional sports has not always been accompanied by adequate governance structures, integrity frameworks, or legal protections for investors, sponsors or players. Being the first of its kind and delivered by experts in the industry and in sports law, the subject reviews the legal challenges and opportunities ahead for esports as an innovative and important revenue stream of the sports industry domestically and abroad.
This subject provides a critical examination of the development and current scope of esports as an industry and with respect to its current and future governance and legal obligations both domestically and globally as informed by a comparative approach.
Principal topics include:
- An introduction to the esports ecosystem
- Stakeholder overview: publishers; event organisers; league operators; teams and organisations; players; talent and content creators; fans
- Governing control in esports: software IP and license agreements
- Esports mega events
- Esports business models
- Legal issues and risk mitigation approaches
- Regulating the esports scene; gambling and integrity; player rights and unionisation; diversity and inclusion; pathways into pro gaming
- Emerging issues.
Intended learning outcomes
A student who has successfully completed this subject will:
- Have an advanced and integrated understanding of the historical evolution of esports as an industry and including the fundamental legal structures, principles and obligations of that industry
- Be able to critically examine, analyse, interpret and assess the effectiveness of the legal rules currently surrounding esports
- Be an engaged participant in debates regarding emerging and contemporary legal and governance issues as they relate to eSports generally and stakeholders specifically and including gambling and integrity; player rights and unionisation; diversity and inclusion; pathways into pro gaming
- Have an advanced understanding of situations in which issues relating to legal and governance obligations may arise in work relationships and management practices within esports currently
- Gain a detailed understanding of legal, governance, and integrity issues in esports in the contexts of Australia, the Oceanic region, and internationally
- Develop the cognitive and technical skills to generate critical and creative ideas relating to the future evolution of esports, and to critically evaluate existing legal, governance, and integrity approaches, principles and concepts with creativity and autonomy
- Have the communication skills to clearly articulate and convey complex information regarding esports to relevant specialist and traditional/non-specialist audiences
- Be able to demonstrate autonomy, expert judgment and responsibility as a practitioner or administrator and learner in the field esports and the law.
Last updated: 4 March 2025
Eligibility and requirements
Prerequisites
None
Corequisites
None
Non-allowed subjects
None
Recommended background knowledge
Applicants without legal qualifications should note that subjects are offered in the discipline of law at an advanced graduate level. While every effort will be made to meet the needs of students trained in other fields, concessions will not be made in the general level of instruction or assessment. Most subjects assume the knowledge usually acquired in a degree in law (LLB, JD or equivalent). Applicants should note that admission to some subjects in the Melbourne Law Masters will be dependent upon the individual applicant’s educational background and professional experience.
Inherent requirements (core participation requirements)
The University of Melbourne is committed to providing students with reasonable adjustments to assessment and participation under the Disability Standards for Education (2005), and the Assessment and Results Policy (MPF1326). Students are expected to meet the core participation requirements for their course. These can be viewed under Entry and Participation Requirements for the course outlines in the Handbook.
Further details on how to seek academic adjustments can be found on the Student Equity and Disability Support website: http://services.unimelb.edu.au/student-equity/home
Last updated: 4 March 2025
Assessment
| Description | Timing | Percentage |
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Brief written legal advice to a stakeholder involved in a factual governance or integrity issue of the student's choosing as identified from the global esports industry, which assesses the facts of the matter, identifies the legal issues involved, explores the relevant law(s) as applied to the facts and legal issues, and offers the stakeholder a range of options with an advised recommendation.
| 22 March 2023 | 25% |
Research paper on a contemporary legal, governance, or integrity topic affecting the esports industry as a whole, or impacting a specific stakeholder group, focused on recommendations and options for future growth and sustainability of the industry or the specific stakeholder group, as approved by the subject coordinator.
| 17 May 2023 | 75% |
| Hurdle requirement: A minimum of 75% attendance is required. | Throughout the teaching period | N/A |
Last updated: 4 March 2025
Quotas apply to this subject
Dates & times
Not available in 2025
What do these dates mean
Visit this webpage to find out about these key dates, including how they impact on:
- Your tuition fees, academic transcript and statements.
- And for Commonwealth Supported students, your:
- Student Learning Entitlement. This applies to all students enrolled in a Commonwealth Supported Place (CSP).
Subjects withdrawn after the census date (including up to the ‘last day to withdraw without fail’) count toward the Student Learning Entitlement.
Additional delivery details
This subject will be taught on campus between Wednesday 22 - Friday 24 February 2023 and held online on Monday 27 - Tuesday 28 February 2023. The 75% attendance hurdle requirement will apply regardless of the delivery mode.
This subject has a quota of 30 students.
Enrolment is on a 'first in' basis. Waitlists are maintained for subjects that are fully subscribed.
Students should note priority of waitlisted places in subjects will be given as follows:
- To currently enrolled Graduate Diploma and Masters students with a satisfactory record in their degree
- To other students enrolling on a single subject basis, eg Community Access Program (CAP) students, cross-institutional study and cross-faculty study.
Please refer to the Melbourne Law Masters website for further information about the management of subject quotas and waitlists.
Melbourne Law School may reserve places in a subject for incoming international cohorts or where a subject is core to a specialisation with limited alternate options.
Last updated: 4 March 2025
Further information
- Texts
- Related Handbook entries
This subject contributes to the following:
Type Name Course Graduate Diploma in Sports Law Course Master of Laws - Links to additional information
- Available through the Community Access Program
About the Community Access Program (CAP)
This subject is available through the Community Access Program (also called Single Subject Studies) which allows you to enrol in single subjects offered by the University of Melbourne, without the commitment required to complete a whole degree.
Please note Single Subject Studies via Community Access Program is not available to student visa holders or applicants
Entry requirements including prerequisites may apply. Please refer to the CAP applications page for further information.
Additional information for this subject
If subject coordinator approval is required prior to enrolment, or for further information about the pre-requisites for Community Access Program study, please contact us:
- prospective CAP student enquiries;
- existing CAP student enquiries (if you have a current Unimelb login).
- Available to Study Abroad and/or Study Exchange Students
Last updated: 4 March 2025