This study aimed to investigate the perceived affordances of incorporating esports into higher education using an ecological systems approach that examined the multiple factors shaping behaviours at the individual, interpersonal, and organisational levels. A total of 40 participants, comprising 32 students and 8 teachers, were invited to take part in semi-structured interviews. The data gathered from the interviews underwent qualitative analysis through the employment of thematic analysis methods. The results suggested that esports were perceived as having the potential to promote students' skills development and foster an interactive learning culture. The study also identified constraints on esports integration at various levels, including student differences (i.e. in gaming interest, skills, attention, and physical capacity) and teachers' insufficient knowledge (i.e. of esports and related pedagogy and content) at the individual level; concerns about the negative impacts of esports at the interpersonal level; and a lack of effective execution of university leadership at the organisational level. The results of this study offer valuable insights for education leaders into how to effectively exercise leadership in the context of esports. Specifically, the findings underscore the importance of developing professional development programmes for teachers to enhance their knowledge of the use of esports and related pedagogy and teaching content to improve the implementation of esports-based instruction.