Esports had its coming out party at this year’s Learfield Intercollegiate Athletics Forum, with attendees treated to a discussion of what makes the new phenomenon unique, how campuses are slowly embracing it and what its landscape will look like in five years. Rutgers AD Pat Hobbs, who supports the esports movement on his campus, said of its emergence, “I get the skepticism, and the issues folks raise. But you need to be open-minded.” Univ. of Utah Esports Dir of Operations A.J. Dimick said esports emulates mainstream college sports programs more than people think. Dimick: “Each player has a position and a role. Teams scout together, they watch film. Prior athletics experience is an asset.” Riot Games Head of Collegiate League of Legends Michael Sherman cited participation in video games across the college landscape as proof esports has a chance to thrive in the coming years. “There’s not thousands of people going and playing pickup basketball on campuses,” he said.
YOUTH IN REVOLT: After a grassroots movement started around ’14, there are now 58 varsity esports programs across the U.S. Though to listen to Thursday's panel, that is just the beginning. National Association of Collegiate Esports Founder & Exec Dir Michael Brooks said, “When administrators say they don’t have students interested in gaming, I take that as a lack of awareness of what’s going on on your campus.” Hobbs traced the participation rates in esports to a change in generations. “My generation played football, basketball and baseball. Then appreciation grew for those sports when you watched them on TV at a later age.” Hobbs noted most children nowadays face pressure to make a travel team in some sport by age 12 or 13. If they fail, they turn to other options, like esports. Hobbs: “That’s where this has evolved. It has participation and viewership.”
WHAT DOES IT ALL MEAN: The panel eventually came back to the question that has dogged esports since its sudden emergence: Where is this going? Hobbs admitted he is still in the process of finding how he can help his esports program, as the grassroots movement has led to the majority of teams and programs being student-led. Hobbs said he does know his program, and programs across the U.S., are looking for validation from the traditional stick-and-ball sports community. Hobbs: “This world is coming and if we don’t figure it out, it may be a missed opportunity.” Dimick said the 58 programs already credited want to represent their schools in events that rival even the biggest football games of the year. He predicted in five years, Utah will fill the 15,000-capacity Jon M. Huntsman Center for an esports competition. Dimick: “We’ll blow the doors off.”
