Esports has surged into the spotlight over the past decade, and its popularity continues to grow year after year. As it seeps into every facet of the media mainstream, there has been one question continuously tied to the industry: what exactly is esports?
“Esports refers to electronic sports. It is a growing global industry that centers on competitive gaming,” said Lisa Funnell, Associate Dean of Creative Industries. “The Esports Administration program is a business-focused program that allows students to enter into and work in the industry. Our goal is to provide our students with the knowledge and the transferable skills to be able to work in every facet of the esports industry.”
Simply put, esports is the international competitive scene for video games. The events are akin to professional football or hockey games both in the excitement and competition surrounding the events, and in the organization and administration that goes on behind the scenes to make something like a spectated competitive match happen.
“A question I often get asked, and it's a misconception, ‘who is the esports industry for? are video games for everyone?’” said Andrew Fedurko, program coordinator for the Esports Administration program. “We've all been exposed to video games at some point in our life. Maybe you don't know what esports is, but you probably know related concepts. The way to look at esports from our perspective is that it’s like many other traditional sports, except that is related to video gaming.”
Andrew continued, “Oftentimes people will consider esports to be professional video gaming, but the difference is that there are multiple video games. Whereas baseball is baseball, basketball is basketball, and hockey is hockey - You can have fighting games, role-playing games (RPGs), different sorts of strategy games. Some are individually played solo games. Some are team based. There's a wide variety in terms of what esports is, in terms of the games themselves, but the real focus on esports is business.
“It is a business. Just as sports management and sports administration is a business, we are focusing on esports administration,” he said. “The two major revenue streams in esports are broadcasting and sponsorship. Aside from the video games, esports are everything you can do, all the career pathways, and every way you could possibly get involved within that industry, and the diverse career paths that do exist within it.”
There are valuable careers in the esports industry, and students will have a chance to explore this business in the NEW Esports Administration program launching in Fall 2024.
Want to learn more?
Attend one of our Open House events to learn more about Esports Administration and visit our hands-on labs.
