An article on Forbes from Neal Robinson (formerly of AMD) says the esports is the new college football. Esports is now making it's way into the college sports arena, with many collegiate teams being developed, and even a National Association of Collegiate esports, consisting of 45 schools, and students getting scholarships for esports prowess. According to one source esports had almost $700 million in revenue in 2017, with an audience of nearly 400 million.
It's amazing how much competitive gaming has grown. I remember years upon years ago I played in competitive Medal of Honor: Allied Assault leagues, it was amazed groups like the OGL could even get anything organized back then.
The question is, now that they are sharing space with athletics and sports programs in colleges, where do they stand? For now, the scholarship amounts themselves serve as a good benchmark. While video games are getting more viewership from the 18-25 age demographic in the U.S. than the NBA Finals or the World Series, the scholarships are nowhere in the ballpark of those given to college sports. The highest scholarship figures top out around the $20K mark, while most tend to hover much lower around $2-5K.
It's amazing how much competitive gaming has grown. I remember years upon years ago I played in competitive Medal of Honor: Allied Assault leagues, it was amazed groups like the OGL could even get anything organized back then.
The question is, now that they are sharing space with athletics and sports programs in colleges, where do they stand? For now, the scholarship amounts themselves serve as a good benchmark. While video games are getting more viewership from the 18-25 age demographic in the U.S. than the NBA Finals or the World Series, the scholarships are nowhere in the ballpark of those given to college sports. The highest scholarship figures top out around the $20K mark, while most tend to hover much lower around $2-5K.