eSports are the way of the future. Hundreds of thousands and maybe even millions of kids every single day play video games competitively or for fun. Many adults may think video games are all fun and games but in the world today it’s more than just fun, it’s becoming a sport and a serious job.
The B1G Ten network is a huge platform for college athletics including schools Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Maryland, Michigan, Michigan State, Minnesota, Nebraska, Northwestern, Ohio State, Penn State, Purdue, Rutgers, and Wisconsin. These schools have an enormous student body and have very successful football programs.
“In a recognition of the popularity of eSports on college campuses, most Big Ten universities will field teams in the multiplayer online game League of Legends and compete in a style resembling conference play, in a partnership with the Big Ten Network” (via NY Times). This is a big step for eSports and is interesting that they are coming to college athletic networks. It’s the way of the future and has the potential to continue growing.
Also according to the New York Times, The Pacific-12 has expressed interest in eSports, and several individual colleges have gone further, with the University of California, Irvine, constructing a dedicated eSports space in its student union and Robert Morris University Illinois, in Chicago, offering athletic scholarships to players.¨ With many schools and people being interested in Esports and many colleges taking notice of this, eSports will continue to grow.
eSports is on the uptrend and will not stop growing. New video games are coming out everyday and new pro gamers are being produced everyday. One day people might be training to become a pro gamer instead of football player. As eSports grows in college, it will grow to a lot of different games.
You never know what can happen in the future, the T.V. show Video Game High School can become a reality one day.