On January 9, 2019 the FeSR was founded by Prof. Dr. Martin Maties, Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. Michael Kubiciel, Dr. Nepomuk Nothelfer and Dr. Philipp Schlotthauer at the Faculty of Law of the University of Augsburg.

The research center addresses numerous legal challenges that have been arising for several years due to the rapid growth of esports. Currently, the most frequently asked esports-related questions in the German media are whether esports should be acknowledged as sports in the legal sense and therefore esports clubs/clans can be awarded a non-profit status, or whether fraud in betting on esports matches is a crime. Yet, this is just the tip of the iceberg. The special characteristics of the industry result primarily from the unprecedented and extremely complex situation. New stakeholders (e.g., international publishers) face established circumstances (e.g., classical sports law) and future challenges (e.g., the digital age and Industry 4.0).

The research interest is further strengthened by economic aspects: esports is a very fast-growing branch of the economy. In Germany, this explains both the inclusion in the coalition agreement for the 19th legislative period (recitals 2167-2171) and the establishment of the "German Games Fund" (50 million euros) in the federal budget for 2019. 

The research center aims to be a strong partner for politics and practice in solving current and future legal challenges in the field of esport. A profound consideration of the unique characteristics of the industry requires both thorough and diversified research.