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eSports in Colleges

eSports Medals

If you haven’t heard about your local collegiate national “E-Sports” champion that might be changing soon. In the near future college level, electronic sports (Video Games) are going to become much more familiar to the general public. Major campuses from Harvard to Florida State are starting to offer major video game competitions which were mostly in the past limited to those attending small local colleges.

eSports Medals
Jackson Brown, the manager of the University of Washington’s team, the Purple Caster Minions, showed the medals that he and his roommate won at the North American Collegiate Championship, considered the Final Four for League of Legends. Credit Stuart Isett for The New York Times

With more than 10,000 students across the country participating in E-Sports leagues these “athletes” are now being recognized and receiving accolades on campus’s but are also receiving help with their tuition by their college. The New York Times reported that “Winning a big tournament can sometimes earn players several years’ worth of tuition money.” Many of the elite gaming companies are now offering scholarship prizes, support, as well as a launching platform for the next generation of college gamers to develop on. These elite game companies alongside collegiate institutions are seeing the power of video gaming as a unique opportunity to reach otherwise untapped audiences because of the overall national popularity of E-Sports. Is this a possible sign of the future?

A video game tournament in Seattle in July. Pro gaming, called e-sports, is becoming a lucrative worldwide spectator sport. Credit Stuart Isett for The New York Times
A video game tournament in Seattle in July. Pro gaming, called e-sports, is becoming a lucrative worldwide spectator sport. Credit Stuart Isett for The New York Times

Some members of college administrations may see this as a passing fad, while others are quick to point out and compare the rise of traditional college sports in the 1940’s to that of E-Sports in contemporary times. Not only are software manufacturers paying attention to this rise but also hardware manufacturers because without them there is no platform to play or build off of. This has created a whole necessary market which consists of ergonomic hardware, updated software, and even customized gaming consoles.

Broadcasters are searching for eSports content that will appeal to their target demographics as the eSports broadcasting on television is still in its infancy. ELEAGUE, an eSports content and live competition brand, has a telecom manage TBS that shows Road Warrior V and Counter Strike: Worldwide Hostile (“CS: on television. The ESPN, Disney, and ABC networks will air the newly established Overwatch League (or “OWL”). Most importantly, a deal for broadcast television does not end existing distribution agreements, like those for Twitch broadcasts. It is more difficult for eSports teams to reach broadcast agreements than it is for league creators and game developers getting paid with w2 form generator tools. eSports groups by and large don’t partake in that frame of mind as those arrangements are haggled between game engineers/association makers and the telecom substances.

One area that is important if colleges are going to expand their foot print for E-Sports is the security of devices for public spaces. With game rooms being designed and included into new projects, existing resident halls or student unions one area of need are theft deterrent products that will safe guard the expensive devices placed in those areas. One company that has designed game rooms and produced anti-theft products for over 10 years is Secure Entertainment. Secure Entertainment has provided products for the military, colleges, cruise ship lines, libraries, charity groups like Ronald McDonald House and St Jude’s Hospital, emergency dental office , doctors offices and many more varied establishments. Secure Entertainment can provide devices to safe guard antique video game products to the newest systems as they become available.

The popularity is impossible to overlook and as stated by James Lampkin product manager for ESL (Electronic Sports League)  “This stuff is expanding out of control”