College’s and the Emerging Esports Industry

A match made in collaboration

By Michael Cameorn Formatted: Font: 12 pt, No underline

Colleges have a long standing model of marrying students’ passion with a hands on practical
education that meets the needs of Inustry and prepares students for careers in their chosen
fields. In keeping with this model, colleges are constantly looking at trends, emerging markets
and new or evolving industries, to deliver relevant curriculum to students. Above all else, they
look to the future, and Esports is an industry with a very bright future. This is why colleges are
well positioned to faciltate not only the Collegiate Varsity Esports game play, which oferes a
high level of student engagment, but to deliver the skills needed to succeed in the business of
Esports. Esports, like all other industries, is a business that needs talent and Colleges have a
history of training that talent. Esports will prove to be an amazing and vibrant industry and
colleges will prove that they are best situated to be the facillators of that long standing
colaboration, between students, education and business.

The Standard College Model

Passion

Business COLLEGE Industry

Education
 The Same Model applied to Esports

Video
Games

Business COLLEGE Esports

Education

Passion and Industry

Video games are a passion for many people today, with over 2 billion gamers world-wide. With
the rise of live streaming, Esports events, and community play on line, the video games industry
is now valued at over $100 Billion dollars. Esports has become part of that industry and it alone
is a $1 Billion dollar industry in its own right and quickly growing.
This gives rise to the passion and Esports is just a manifestation of that passion which has
blossomed into an industry. More importantly, it drives potential students to work in an
industry that at this point is still in its initial steps and expecting exponential growth.
This is where colleges can become involved and provide the education to those aspiring Esports
enthusiasts who are passionate about the industry. This is something colleges do well. Yet how
does a college address an aspiring industry like Esports?
We are talking about the business of Esports here, not the playing of a specific game, or being a
pro player. Business education has been around for a long time, that’s why we have business
communications courses, why people get MBA’s. In this case though, colleges are uniquely
qualified to combine the long-standing skills of business with the emerging Esports Industry.

Education
Colleges marry three key ingredients; academic delivery, experiential learning and reciprocal
ties directly with Industry. This is a tried and true recipe for success at the college level. The
question is, how do we apply this to Esports?
Firstly, Esports, and more importantly the business of Esports is at its core, Sports
Management. This has been a long standing course of study at the college level. So at its core,
it’s the same, but different. Esports involves a high level of technical elements, from
broadcasting to networking and computers. It’s where “sport “meets information technology.
It also has a global reach. Unlike traditional sports that may or may not be poplar in one area of
the world or another, Esports spans the globe. It spans broad demographics in terms of age,
gender and so on. It also will very quickly exceed other traditional sports in viewership. Esports
is projected to have 276 million viewers by 2022, a number I believe to cautious and more aptly
to be around 300 million.

microsmallcap.com
It is also not tied to “one” form of competition. Esports is more like managing an Olympics team
on a grand scale, or managing a track and field team on a smaller scale. There is no “one event”,
there are just ever evolving competitions from diverse gaming genres; CSGO, StarCraft,
OverWatch , League of Legends, Fortnite and so on. This poses some unique challenges for
colleges addressing the needs of curriculum and engagement geared towards this industry.
Key Components Necessary for Collegiate Esports and Curriculum.
Varsity Esports is indeed a key component to collegiate success and in the case, student run
Esports events and clubs have been the driving force behind many college Varsity teams. The
simple fact is you have to have skin in the game. It is a focus for student engagement, a factor
in college selection by students, and it comes with all the other trappings of successful sporting
teams at a school.

However, Varsity Esports presents some interesting challenges. The foremost of which is
numbers. Other varsity teams can be between 12-24 players, a typical Esports Varsity “Team”
covering 5-8 of the most popular gaming competitions can be 40+ players with coaches

Durham College Varsity Esports Team.

The reality is that the majority of competitions will take place on line. However, when a team is
successful, travel becomes a necessity and logistics come into play when 4 of your teams are
traveling to different parts of the country to compete or the entire armada of players are
traveling to a major multi-game event.

Arena or Lab environment :

Mock up of Durham College’s Esports Arena.

Players need a place to play and practice just like any other Varsity Team. If you have a soccer,
football, or baseball team, you need a field to practice and play, as do Varsity Esports players.
This can be accomplished by setting up a class room or lab environment with high end gaming
PC’s and a good internet connection for your team; or by creating a public school arena (as in
Durham College’s case) or by partnering with a local Esports arena (as in York University’s case).
York University’s student Esports chapter have partnered with Waves E Gaming, a local Esports
Venue.
There are a number of great models to emulate, like that of the University of California in
Irvine. Irvine has been a leader in Collegiate Esports and continues to be an example of
collegiate Esports, student engagement, academic support and industry partnerships.
https://esports.uci.edu/

Knowledgeable Faculty

The medium of engagement may have changed, Esports Arenas instead of brick and mortar
Sports fields, but the business model is the same. Colleges can lean on existing staff to address
the needs of Esports business students; Sports Management, Marketing, Human Resources,
Law, Information Technology, and so on. However, garnering faculty with an in-depth
knowledge of gaming and Esports is another matter. If an institution is lucky to have faculty
that have been involved in the industry (gaming, game development, programming, Esports
events management, etc.) This is an easy shift in focus; business is business. Sports
Management’s fundamentals are the same, regardless of the sport or venue. However, for
Esports directly it will be another matter and colleges will be relying on industry partners and
subject matter experts where they can find them. These are the individuals that will develop
curriculum and relationships to create a long lasting, integrated program. This is reminiscent of
the Information Technology boom in the 90’s, as the people best suited to address the
educational needs were busy creating the industry.
Industry partnerships.
This will be the key and defining relationship to close the circle on any successful college
Esports Program. It will be a two fold approach that involves talking to local Esports
entrepreneurs and businesses and reaching out nationally and globally. This local action and
global reach is the hallmark of this industry and why it has such excellent economic reach.
Classic varsity sports programs are now addressing and getting involved in Esports.

As well, one of the biggest players in the industry is working hard to facilitate college Esports;
Twitch. The gaming broadcast platform Twitch helped launch Esports viewing into the main
stream and they see the value in Collegiate Esports not just from a viewer perspective, but from
facilitating the growth of the pool of educated, skilled and talented graduates entering the
business of Esports. The Twitch student program is acting as an active hub by being a resource
for post secondary institutions developing academic Esports program and by connecting these
institutions with each other and helping to grow the Esports Collegiate network.
Locally many colleges need not look far for Esports venues or Esports event companies for
industry partners and mentors. Finally, as more and more traditional sports teams and venues
enter the Esports industry by paring Esports teams that mirror their traditional sport. The pool
of industry professionals, especially those will long standing experience and expertise with
classic sports management, will grow and also look to partner with Colleges.

Colleges and Esports.

Colleges will do what they have always done; direct the passion of their students, guide them
through their academic careers, give them hands on, practical experience, and help them
launch careers in their chosen fields. Colleges will continue to partner with industry for real
world insights that are applied to their programs and Colleges will continue to graduate
students that meet the needs of an ever changing economic landscape.

Durham College Convocation.

 Students

Colleges
Industry

Esports

With Esports, colleges are in a unique position to do what they do best; bring students,
academics, and industry together while engaging their students via experiential learning.
Colleges will continue to address the present and future needs its industry partners, with a view
to the realities and the exciting potential of the future. Esports, and the business of Esports
creates a great opportunity for Colleges to provide a synergy to this explosive industry. An
Industry that represents the future of the digital economy, and one that aligns with student’s
passions, and their career goals. For their students, and for the needs of industry, and now for
Esports, Colleges will be there.

Michael Cameron is a Professor and Esports Coordinator at Durham College in Oshawa, Ontario, Canada

https://durhamcollege.ca/

Michael.cameoron@durhamcollege.ca

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