Exploring the Dark Side of Esports Online Spectatorship: Passion as a Mediator and Collective Narcissism as a Moderator

The rise of esports as an emerging spectator phenomenon has led to a growing number of esports fans who participate in online discussions and communities. With a larger and more diverse fan base, the increased engagement has also caused a surge in online toxicity. In this study, we seek to understand how online toxicity is stimulated through team identification, passion, and collective narcissism in esports online spectatorship. Survey data ( n = 467) was collected from fans of professional esports teams competing in Riot Games’ League of Legends Pro League in China and analyzed using Partial least squares structural equation modelling. Mediation and moderation analyses were conducted to verify the proposed hypotheses. We provided an improved understanding of the enactment of online toxicity and showed how team identification would manifest in both obsessive passion and harmonious passion. The identified bifurcated mediation effects of obsessive passion and harmonious passion as well as the moderating role of collective narcissism in the team identification-obsessive passion relationship extended the literature on team identification and dysfunctional fandom in esports. Our study offered new insights into the negativities associated with esports online spectatorship and proposed a passion-oriented strategy to mitigate online toxicity among esports fans.