Are you a parent looking for collegiate programs based on esports for your new college student in the family? Or maybe you’re the student doing the research on finding the best collegiate esports programs. Great! Look no further, continue reading to read everything you need to know about college esports. If there’s something you’re interested in or we haven’t answered in this article for you, just contact us!
What is College Esports?
Collegiate esports is no different than your traditional collegiate sports programs like football or basketball. Just like how students compete in various team sports in traditional settings like the football field, collegiate esports are very similar and draws a lot of the same parallels. You can think of each different type of sport (football, basketball, soccer etc.) as a different game to compete in for collegiate esports, except their games are League of Legends, Overwatch, Dota 2, Counter Strike and so on.
Just like traditional sports, collegiate esports organizations have strict practice schedules, team dynamics and competitive atmospheres that breed a passion for the sport similar to traditional sports. Trust us, esports can get just as heated and competitive as any other sport, maybe even more so!
And the best part, collegiate esports is growing very rapidly and resources are starting to become more abundant. What does that mean? If you’re a parent, your child getting ready for college can receive scholarships for their gaming passion! If you’re an incoming student, your life and career can change forever in the future of esports starting with a great esports collegiate program!
Benefits of Joining College Esports
Career Development
As the entire esports industry grows, there are just more eyes, resources and opportunities presented that no one has ever seen before. Those that are passionate about gaming are no longer ridiculed and laughed at. Instead, some of the biggest stars in today’s age are gamers like Bugha or Ninja.
Esports and gaming celebrities like these individuals are in some of the best times in history. Today, you can make millions of dollars playing a game, making it a professional career.
Some career paths you can take that have opened because of the gaming industry are professional gamers, stream casters or commentators and even becoming a gaming “personality” through content creation on Youtube or streaming platforms.
More traditional careers in esports or gaming can be live event organizers and logistics, marketing for live events or gamers, creating franchises and organizations for games, business development, finance and more!
Scholarships
Now that esports is becoming this huge industry (projected to be $1 billion+ market by 2020) there is a lot of money going around for talent.
Colleges with esports programs will offer sometimes a few hundred dollars to thousands of dollars in grants and scholarships in order to attract talent. Just like colleges recruiting for football prodigies, colleges are beginning to heavily invest in the future of their esports prodigies as well.
If you’re a student with talent and the passion to become a professional gamer, now is the time to take advantage of all these opportunities revolving around esports, scholarships being one of them.
Passion
Esports programs allow for those that are passionate about gaming to have a place where they can call home. Many people simply have gaming as a hobby but now that there are platforms in place to build and grow communities, gamers are taking the stage now.
You’d be surprised, these esports games and live events tend to get more concurrent viewers than your traditional sports due to technology and the new age of digital consumption through streaming and other media. Have you ever walked into a basketball game with more than half the seats empty? You won’t find that problem on a streaming platform like Twitch TV or Mixer. There are some streamers out there having over 100,000 live viewers every day. When was the last time you heard of 100,000 people watching 1 person game for 10 or more hours a day? Just to put that into perspective you’d need 5X the amount of Madison Square Garden arenas to fit that many people to watch a concert or live event.
Best College for Esports and their Varsity Programs
Maryville University of Saint Louis
Boasting some of the most notable players in the collegiate arena around League of Legends, they’ve won 3 National Championships for League of Legends out of the 4 years they’ve participated. If you’re looking for a highly competitive League of Legends collegiate team to join, Maryville might be the next step.
Not only do they partake in League of Legends in their varsity program, they also compete in other popular esport titles like Overwatch, CS:GO, Rocket League and more. And of course, scholarships are consistently presented for top talent!
Robert Morris University Illinois
This university and its esports program have been at the forefront of pushing the idea of collegiate esports since day one. They were the first-ever college to present scholarships for students in regards to esports. Without them continually changing the landscape of collegiate esports, we’re not quite sure where it’d be today.
They compete in every popular esport title there is with a dedicated coaching staff behind the players. Also, they’ve been known to partner with some of the most notable brands out there like ASUS, Champion, iBuyPower and more. This allows them to provide the best facilities and training centers for their players. If you like high quality, you’ll love RMU!
Miami University
Based in Ohio, not to be mistaken for Miami in Florida, Miami University offers state of the art facilities and training centers for its esports players. They’ve also been early adopters in offering varsity program scholarships for esports too, back in 2016.
Since the inception of their program, they’ve won major competitions such as NACE 2017 in Overwatch. But in addition to Overwatch, like most universities, they compete in other games as well like League of Legends, Hearthstone and more. They’re even offering classes closely related to the gaming industry that give students the opportunity to minor in digital gaming.
University of California Irvine
If you want competition and world-class training facilities, keep your eyes on UCI esports.
Having one of the most robust varsity programs in collegiate esports you’ll know you’re in for the competition and great player development here. The opportunities and eyes on UCI players are scouted from top professional esports organizations all around. You might be the next professional gaming star with all the resources here at UCI in terms of esports. It’s really special here.
University of Utah
Though late into the game (no pun intended), the University of Utah has established one of the best varsity programs for esports from a big-name university.
Backed by resources from the school and the passion of its gamers and players, more than likely this college will be in the light of many top teams in popular esports titles like League of Legends, Hearthstone, CS:GO, Dota 2, Overwatch and more.
How to Apply to Esports Programs in College
Many of these esports programs have their own form to fill out or admission process. And of course, it is a must to be a student admitted into the general university program in order to partake in these collegiate level esports varsity programs. Search up any school you’re interested in and look for the esports varsity program.
You can see a list of all colleges that have varsity programs here.
