Many schools have started to follow the national trend to ‘E-sports’, or competitive gaming by either offering scholarships for very good players or forming whole teams devoted to E-sports while also offering scholarships just like they would for any other sport. These aren’t just random schools but some of the top echelon with the likes of Harvard. It also isn’t just the small schools either with some massive schools such as Florida State. It has become a powerful force in today’s tech world, and tournaments continue to get more viewers every day.
Robert Morris University has went as far as to create a whole team just for e-sports that competes in tournaments and other schools who might have a team or club for e-sports. The most popular game played in e-sports is almost universally League of Legends with over 67 million players a month and 27 million a day. Winners of tournaments can get recognized by college scouts and they can be persuaded with money that can go towards your tuition or full scholarships if you are good enough.
With this emerging ‘sport’, there is a lot of debate if it is just that: a sport. Some think it is especially if you are a participant while those who play sports that take blood, sweat and tears tend to think of it more as a hobby than anything. So, what do you think? A sport that deserves scholarships and teams or just a hobby that needs to stay outside of college sports?