Eschool and esports

USD Campus Recreation opens the door to billion-dollar world of competitive gaming with esports teams, tournaments

Joshua Strange / Contributor

Students have never had a better opportunity to gain followers and subscribers, or get school paid for while flexing their skills online, as revenue from esports reaches staggering new heights during COVID-19. Games like “World of Warcraft,” “Call of Duty: Warzone,” and “League of Legends” have hundreds of millions of concurrent viewers and players, a small part of the pie in a billion-dollar industry. Even USD is getting on board with the growing trend as this fall brings about a paradigm shift from physical sports to competitive esports. 

“Esports” is the term industry experts are using to represent the world of competitive online gaming. This environment hosts teams and leagues in which students or professional online gamers compete for huge prizes, bragging rights, and a chance to prove that gaming can be a professional endeavor. 

The Torero Gaming Club, working with Campus Recreation, created USD’s official esports teams earlier this month and they are recruiting interested students. For more casual players or those looking to practice before applying for the official teams this semester, Campus Recreation will also be offering remote intramural esports tournaments, on a variety of gaming platforms with awards and Amazon gift cards. 

USD joins a growing list of campuses around the nation that are offering competitive esports teams. Following in the footsteps of big schools like UC Berkeley and UC Irvine, which have been paving the way with their varsity esports teams, it is an exciting time to break into the industry. 

“There are nearly 150 colleges in North America that offer (gaming) scholarships,” Emily Rand, an ESPN reporter for collegiate gaming, said. “College players at a scholarship esports program are like traditional athletes who go to college for their sports.”

Last year tens of thousands of people watched live as ESPN hosted their inaugural collegiate gaming tournament in a coast-to-coast standoff, making careers and dreams come true for several young esports players. 

Many of these gaming professionals use highlights and clips from their gameplay and post them to platforms like Twitter, TikTok, and Youtube. These social media influencers can generate millions of dollars through advertisements and paid subscriptions or get picked up by professional organizations that contract them much like a professional sports team. USD sophomore Megan Cardiff, who has started dabbling in video creation, explained just how lucrative the market for digital creators is. 

“The influence YouTubers have is insane…some have over 9 million followers and can make thousands for one brand deal,” Cardiff said. “The consumer market is shifting online, especially with COVID.” 

Last year was an explosive phase for the esports and influencer markets and COVID has certainly upped the ante by pushing activities like work and school into the online environment as well. “Fortnite,” a game often associated with dancing and memes, has offered over a quarter of a billion dollars in prizes to competitive players around the world since its inception. Last year alone it had a prize pool of over $100 million and the player who won the 2019 Fortnite World Cup took home a mind-boggling $3 million in winnings. His videos have tens of millions of views on Youtube — and he is only 17 years old. The game also hosts “Econcerts” with appearances from Travis Scott and Marshmello.

Competitive gamers  are generating buzz much like top sports athletes and college recruiters are keeping their eyes open. Sophomore Mackenzie Zorn, who plays “Warzone” with her older brother, is happy to see USD launch an esports program.  

“I feel good about it,” Zorn said. “It is honestly a good direction and gaming is an equal playing ground for almost anyone. Intramural esports tournaments are a good choice considering the pandemic.” 

With everything to gain and nothing to lose, this fall is shaping up to be an exciting time to try your luck and prove your worth in the virtual world.