Posted on 03/01/2019 6:02:30 AM PST by reaganaut1
More money flows to arenas and building upgrades. The hunt for recruits gets more competitive. University presidents brag about how their new program will make the school nationally known.
But the cause isn’t basketball or football.
This time around, the athletics arms race on campus is for “esports”—competitive video gaming. And it’s a trend driven by many small colleges hunting for students.
Though new, esports are not a niche. Within only a few years, they have gone from small, student-driven clubs to official extensions of the university. So far, 126 colleges have joined the National Association of Collegiate Esports (NACE), a governing body for varsity-level competitions. Student-athletes play games such as League of Legends, Overwatch, Rocket League, and Counter-Strike. Games are usually team-based and can be fighting, sports, fantasy, and strategy games.
NACE membership is rapidly growing, too. Michael Brooks, NACE’s executive director, told the Martin Center that they receive six or seven inquiries every day from schools wanting to join NACE. In a year, he estimated that NACE will have 300 affiliated schools and 800 schools within five years—though NACE tends to underestimate its growth.
Esports, it seems, is here to stay.
An esports program gives colleges a branding opportunity and students a reason to choose a specific college. “That’s the first issue, recruitment and retention of new students. The second thing is definitely branding. It’s harder for smaller institutions…to really build up that brand,” Brooks said.
So, students get a new sport to play or watch, colleges have another program to advertise, and few administrators stand athwart history, trying to stop higher ed’s growth into an entertainment juggernaut.
But branding doesn’t come cheap. Compared with traditional sports, esports costs are low. “The average startup cost is $43,000."
(Excerpt) Read more at jamesgmartin.center ...
I was born 40 years too soon, but at least I got to experience the Reagan Revolution...
I remember Pong. It was fascinating in that for the first time you could actually manipulate the image on a TV screen. To a (then) TV freak, that was amazing. Back in the ‘80s, a nephew go a Nintendo for Christmas. It had the Mario game. I played it for a bit. It was fun, but I moved on after an hour and have not played one since. I understand they have improved, but my interest has not returned.
No travel or uniform costs...
Every Esport “arena” will be named “My Parent’s Basement” Stadium.
Bread and circuses.
More frivolous bs to raise tuition rates.
And that I sat there and watched it for a bit means I've turned a corner.
I can’t wait for the first college to award a degree in eSports. Might even be more worthless than a degree in “Social Justice”!
I hear "Lettuce, plate, bung."
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.