Comparison of e-sports and sports in terms of navigator motivations and reasons for preference

In this study, it was aimed to learn about the motivations of football and eSports viewers or individuals who perform them as an activity, and to examine the viewpoints of audiences and motivation levels of these two types of sports. In the study, it was also aimed to determine the motivation factors and levels of differentiation of the audience according to various characteristics, whether they are followers of football or eSports branches. The universe of the research consists of individuals who are over 18 years old, who are close to one of Football, League of Legens (LOL) and FIFA, which have become widespread as physical sports and eSports. It was decided to include individuals who are more than 18 years of age and who are engaged in spectator activities for this branch and who are more than 18 years old and have an equal number for three branches, and a total of 450 people were reached. Quantitative research method was used to collect and evaluate the data obtained in the research. In the study, in order to determine the sports motivation of individuals who are close followers of one of the three branches, the "Audience Motivations in Sports Scale" prepared by Pizzo was adapted to Turkish by taking expert opinion and a reliability study was carried out. This data was collected after the form link prepared on the Online survey site was published on various social media platforms and forums. IBM SPSS 20 statistics program was used to analyze the data obtained in the research. The distribution of football, FIFA and LOL branches' demographic characteristics, habits related to being athletes and spectators, and video game habits are shown in percentage and frequency. In the study, the scores of the audience in each branch from the motivation motifs in the sports motivation scale are indicated with the mean and standard deviation. In the study, t test and one-way analysis of variance were used for independent samples in the study of the differentiation status of the motivation motifs of the audience of three branches according to their various characteristics. Tukey test, which is one of the post hoc tests, was used to determine the differentiating groups for the variables that were significant as a result of one-way variance analysis for variables with three and more than three groups. 95% confidence level was taken into consideration in the analysis of the data in the research. As a result of the analysis conducted to determine the difference of audience motivations according to the branches, which is one of the main objectives of the study, it was determined that there was a statistically significant difference in the motifs of "social opportunities", "role model", "obtaining information" and "physical attraction". Accordingly, the football branch audience preferred football (their own branch) less than FIFA and LOL branch audiences due to their social opportunities, whereas the football branch audience is again the eSports audience for the eSports audience. According to the fact that they feel the physical attraction of the sport more. Key Words: Motivation, Audience, Sports, eSports