Since the early years of mainstream gaming gamers were thought to be wasting their time with these games, however, such is no longer the case; now there are multiple opportunities for dedicated gamers to play their specific games and make money while competing against other gamers. Colleges have set up collegiate teams to compete in this lucrative and rapidly growing phenomenon known as eSports. It would benefit the University of South Carolina to attempt to make their way into this relatively young sport while there are still less regulations so it can forge its own path.  This will allow the players a perspective path to the professional scene of eSports and will allow those who originally would not even consider college to attend school. Most of the time eSports players don’t even think about going to college until after their career has ended and even then, they would attend an online school or a two-year school if that. The University of South Carolina should see this growing trend and adopt a system to allow players to come to college and compete against teams in a controlled environment like the other athletes on the collegiate level.

Growing up, gamers were told to stop wasting their time with gaming and go outside, make some friends, focus on your work etc. Later in life those who still game are seen as lazy and looked down upon for not spending their time on things that others see as more productive. Per a Pew Research Center Survey 26% of adults believe that most video games are a waste of time and 33% believe that some games are a waste of time and others are not, while 24% believe that most games are not a waste of time and the last 16% are unsure on the topic. This is a survey on a group of adults and their perception of video games; what most of the 26% of people who thought games were a waste of time may not have known is that according to the 2016 Global eSports Market Report the revenue that eSports brings in will reach up around $1.1 billion in 2019 alone (Global Esports Market Report: Revenues to Jump to $463M in 2016 as US Leads the Way). If these adults knew the scene of eSports and the money that can be brought in through competing their opinion will change and just how they see traditional sports as a great past time for children that can lead to friendships and opportunities for scholarships and as a career for later in life. Also, the adults mentioned in the survey above will be more willing to allow their smaller children to play videogames for a team than go out for the football team where they could potentially get seriously injured, so instead of being seen as a waste of time these video games will be seen as a way to get involved in school and community. This is only a single reason for the University of South Carolina to adopt an eSports team because it will allow those kids who do not have the ability to play the traditional sports to still get involved and have the chance for scholarships through competing for the university in their respective games.

The University of South Carolina will not be the first college to develop an eSports scene the most notable would be the University of California Irvine. The fact that there are already colleges that have a team will serve as a model for the university to use to successfully develop a team. UCI has been so successful, that it debuted the first public college eSports Arena. The arena, according to an article on Engadget.com, “…is packed with 80 gaming PCs loaded with the top eSports titles…” (Conditt, Jessica). The success of the program has allowed the UCI arena to be backed by both iBUYPOWER the company who provided the computers and Riot Games the company behind the hugely popular eSports phenomenon League of Legends. On top of the arena, according to Engagdet “UCI is offering ten scholarships valued at $15,000 each, to its competitive League of Legends players.” (Conditt). The fact that the university was able to build an arena with the capabilities that this has is proof that there is a future for collegiate eSports and the ability for UCI to give scholarships of $15,000 to each of the players shows the commitment they have toward this program. Also, Riot Games has different scholarships for collegiate level players so it shows backing from the companies that run these events this is yet another reason why the USC should adopt what UCI has done and implement it here in Columbia. The arena will allow students who game regularly to gather and meet new people instead of staying in their room playing alone. Also, it will allow those who are good enough to have scholarships that will greatly impact their tuition allowing these students to attend USC and compete with their team as Gamecocks.

In the beginning of the universities journey to establish themselves as an eSports University a challenge that they will face is the location in which they hold these events starting off for this they should look to Eli Neiburger’s Gamers—in the Library?!: The Why, What, and How of Videogame Tournaments for All Ages. In this book Neiburger explores how to go about setting up videogame tournaments in basically any public space such as in a library or specifically for USC, they could transform some of the auditoriums located in the buildings surrounding the Horseshoe such as the auditorium in Currell college or the multiple auditoriums in the Darla Moore School of Business. Any of the venues across campus that have the room could be used to host these events. As Neiburger states he uses the library in which he works in order to show the ease in which he was able to set up the events. There are also multiple computer labs located across campus that could be used as a place for the teams to practice it is a confined area with multiple computers already located inside.

Players of their specific games such as League of Legends or Counter Strike: Global Offensive spend years and countless hours and sleepless nights honing their craft whether that be cross-map sniping with an AWP on Dust II in CS: GO or a hunting specific “buffs” in the Jungle of the Rift in LoL. What should be introduced for these players is the chance to go to college to better their education while also participating in a regulated practice time and not spend their nights just playing these games because it is dangerous to have a nonregular sleep schedule and to spend their nights playing videogames this opportunity will allow gamers the ability to have a joint practice time that the whole team abides by getting rid of the need for the irregular sleep schedules while also giving these young adults the responsibility of school in order to stay on the team and maintain their scholarships. Also, it will give the opportunity for those who would not originally go to college or for those at college to get involved in a new up and coming sport that with enough practice and dedication there is potential to have a great payout, and in eSports unlike many other sports there is no physical barrier such as in football size being a factor if you want to succeed and play professionally. In the eSports world, there are all different types of bodies and the only real differentiator is the amount of time you take to practice and hone your skill in each specific genre and in each game in said genre.

Those who oppose the idea of bringing eSports into USC would bring up the amount of money it would cost and if it would be worth all the trouble. According to the article on Newzoo “Global Esports Market Report: Revenues to Jump to $463M in 2016 as US Leads the Way” in 2016 it was projected that the eSports will bring in the revenue of around $463 million so to ask whether or not it would be worth it would be like questioning whether or not it is worth keeping around one of the less popular sports there is obvious money to be made around eSports. Also, co-owner of the Golden State Warriors has bought controlling interest in an eSports organization and at the moment this is not odd to see there are multiple professional sport organization owners “putting their hat in the ring” and procuring an organization (Gu, Rachel Y). These are people who have made millions of dollars off branding and taking risks. Many of them saw a good investment when they saw eSports and they jumped on it USC should do the same. Another counterargument that would be made around whether USC should implement is; are there enough people interested in competitive videogame play to warrant an entire program that will encompass eSports. The answer to this, yes, sixty-five percent of eSports fans are between the ages of 18 and 34 which starting with 18 is the age which most people become a freshman in college (Wood, Joss). It will be like a Gamecock football fan who comes and watches the eSports games while they are young and their interest will follow them through life and it will bring a whole new group of people to gain interest in USC and this will allow the purchasing of merchandise to start and virtual things to be bought as well such as skins for different characters and weapons in the games.

Through offering gamers, a program in which they can compete and make a name for themselves the University would be offering them a somewhat easier path the world of professional eSports. Such is the case in multiple other professional sports such as basketball or football. The game development company Blizzard has introduced something that they will call the Overwatch league after their game Overwatch which has made its mark in the eSports scene its one year of being out. What Blizzard hopes to do with this new league is revolutionize the way players are treated because right now there are not as many regulations on teams like there are in other professional level sports. This revolution comes with teams being location based and having contracts with their players there will also be a NFL style combine for the players of Overwatch to show off their skill if this new style works and is implemented across all eSports it could greatly benefit players hoping to go to the professional level to go to college and have a proving ground to show off what they can do and get more practice then using that information teams could keep an eye out for them in the combine (Bedford, John).

Another critique that would be brought up is the fact that USC already has a club dedicated to eSports however they do this in their free time and do not have scholarships that would help them pay for their tuition. Also, they don’t have the supplies needed to run a regulated team it is not promoted like other clubs and without the backing of the university they do not get the talent that UCI would get because there are no incentives for players to come to USC. If the university can get involved with eSports early enough they can make themselves a staple in the scene; since there would not be as many choices for players to choose we would get the recognition that we don’t always get in other sports. Also, we as a University would have the ability to choose what games we wish to promote and get involved in and almost steer the direction that would be taken for other schools. With the multitude of games out there only a few offer a collegiate level of play one example being Blizzard’s Heroes of the Storm game which has the Heroes of the Dorm tournament. Tim Alphert’s talks about the benefits of collegiate eSports in his TedX talk “Destigmatizing gaming through University sports” he explains that he has set up a collegiate circuit for players of specific games to come together and win money over in Europe. He explains that it has been an enriching experience to witness these complete strangers come together and bond over their videogames and go onto win and this builds a relationship that will last well past their gaming years. This will be beneficial to USC because overall gamers are seen as loners and people who stay on their own this will allow them to come together and compete with other people and it will bring the fans of these games out to watch their university compete against other universities to win. It will have the same affect traditional sports has on the university it will allow people who would have never come in contact with each other to come together and root for their team to win.

The University of South Carolina is a wonderful place where different people from different backgrounds come together. The introduction of competitive gaming to the already extensive list of athletics we have here will only allow for more unity and a better experience overall. While there are, some risks involved in taking on this new scene the end result will far outweigh the risks there is a potential to make millions or even billions of dollars in this field and that should not be taken lightly by the University. Gamers from across the country are already lining up to watch their favorite teams play so why not grant those who genuinely love the University of South Carolina the ability to line up to support their fellow gamecocks in a game of League of Legends or Counter-Strike: Global Offensive. With growing interest and growing revenue encompassing the world of eSports USC should take part in this phenomenon and bring to light the spectacular talent and heart that the players of videogames can have. It has been said that eSports is the future of all Sports and this great University needs to realize this before it is too late.
