TRADITIONAL college sports can absolutely be a joy to watch. How many of us tuned in to watch the men’s and women’s NCAA tournament championship? College sports aren’t going anywhere, but they are being joined by something new the kids these days call esports or competitive gaming.
It’s easy for some to scoff at these digital athletes, but take one look at the cash prizes offered in these tournaments and you’ll know this business is no laughing matter. Forbes reported that the esports industry is expected to hit $1.1 billion on revenue this year and $1.65 billion in 2021. ESPN is certainly paying attention to esports as well, inking out a deal in 2018 for TV rights to carry esports coverage of popular online shooter game Overwatch.
The appetite for watching esports championships is massive. In 2017, 360 million people watched an esports competition of popular online battle arena game League of Legends, according to CNN. Compare that to 30 million people who tuned in for the NBA finals that same year. Now you know why ESPN wants a piece of the action. There’s serious money (and eyeballs) dedicated to these gamers.
And now the electronic games of skill are coming to Arkansas high school and college campuses. The papers say Arkansas State University in Jonesboro is starting an esports club this fall.
Here’s more from Arkansas’ newspaper:
“The university said it intends to eventually offer scholarships and to apply for membership with the National Association of Collegiate Esports, a fast-expanding association of colleges with esports programs that is similar to the National Collegiate Athletic Association. The esports association formed
in 2016 to govern the sport, although many colleges with esports teams have no intention of joining.”
These students aren’t playing Super Mario Bros. for scholarships. We’re talking about competitive fighting and shooting games where players practice 20-30 hours a week under the guidance of coaches.
Professional gaming teams can earn millions of dollars in prizes, and competition is fierce. Don’t believe it? Watch some of these teams from South Korea absolutely dominate tournaments. College students getting a taste of the professional leagues really isn’t all that different than seeing college players drafted into professional leagues, is it?
There are a few challenges in setting up these clubs, like licensing. Unlike basketball where you can just buy an orange ball at the store and go play on the court, games are software. They have licenses and are owned by actual corporations. That Overwatch game mentioned earlier is owned by a company called Blizzard Entertainment. If colleges want to use it in their clubs or host tournaments with the game, they need appropriate licensing to do so.
Another challenge is the lack of a central governing authority over various esports leagues. The patchwork of governance can be confusing. Still, it hasn’t stopped Lyon College from joining the National Association of Collegiate Esports. And it hasn’t stopped Henderson State University from billing itself at the first college in our state to offer scholarships to esports players.
It’s exciting to watch these new developments as students learn important lessons in teamwork and bond over their competitions. We hope to see more high schools and college jump on this train as well. Now if only there were a Tetris esports tournament . . .