It’s been long since 1997 when American semi-professional gamer Dennis Fong won a Ferrari 328 because of his talent in the early three-dominated Quake game. Sports are the fan term for competitive gaming. It is today a market with a turnover of more than US $1.1 billion with a dizzying array of celebrities, including Michael Jordan and David Beckham, luxury designers (Louis Vuitton), and corporations (Kraft Group) that want to participate.
Concurrent pros play in games such as the League of Legends, Duty Call and Overwatch. The other professional group of video players are entertainers. The first trains with coaches like athletes. The latter live streams on YouTube and Twitch make millions of fans happy, qualified and funny.
“I feel it’s the biggest traditional sport league that will rival in future opportunities,” said Steve Borenstein, President of the Activision Blizzard Esports Division and Former CEO of ESPN and the NFL Network: “There are huge areas of growth for this nascent sector among advertising, ticket sales, licencing, sponsorship and merchandising.”
The global sportive market in 2020 was just over US$950 million, and in 2023 it is projected that it will hit nearly US$1.6 billion. Madden 19 is part of the long-lasting EA Madden series, which was featured in the tournament in Jacksonville. EA Madden Franchise has sold over 130 million units since it was created almost 30 years ago, totaling over 4 billion dollars in sales.
Sporting competitions have become cultural trends and are now competing with conventional large-scale sporting events. Big tournaments take place in locations where thousands of fans watch professional video gamers compete for profitable prize pools of the big name. Just one thing should be taken seriously: games.
Uni Degrees for Esports: What would you study?
The market element of the degree is focused on esports. The students learn what they need to host large and small events, to develop business strategies to create teams and to promote events with digital marketing in a practical and technological environment. Students of Esport Management will also discuss a culture of sports, its audience and fan base, and four of the industry’s main game genres.
“Apart from a love of games and the gaming of others. My key reason for moving towards esports is because of the enthusiasm for the industry of one of my partners, Loukmane Issa” said Sam Ward, Valor Esports co-founder.
Students acquire key sports business expertise during the program through the sports marketing department; analytics; management of tournament and league; special event management; accounting and communications. Students learn about software and hardware for industry, computer networking and team management business models and tournaments as they improve and enhance their skills in streaming.
A degree program will give you more insight into the sports landscape, the ability to adapt to the continuous changes in that industry and the ability to become a pioneer in this fast-growing sports business market.
What are the conditions for entry?
The entry criteria for some schools are different. A strong collection of GCSE grades, most A or A* and an IB DipLoma with a total of 38 marks, are required for a bachelor’s degree. Some schools list A-niveaux as an additional qualification in general studies. A four years bachelor’s degree in the same field and a minimum GPA of B+ is required for a Master’s degree.
Programs run modularly, providing versatility and variety. Each credit is usually equal to about 10 hours of total study time. Total study time includes scheduled teaching, independent study and assessment activity. Full-time students earn 60 loans each semester, with part-time students receiving proportionally less loans per semester. It takes three years to complete a traditional full-time bachelor’s degree.
What are my career options?
At Valor Esports, life skills such as resilience, discipline and communication can be applied through esports using the Valor structure, leading to industry education because not every person aspires to be a professional player. “Though if you love what you do and you love esports then it is likely you would enjoy a career in the esports industry,” said Ward.
“Valor Esports wants its players to have a strong understanding of how they can create opportunities in the industry they love. This ideology ties into the concept of building well rounded competitors. Just because you can’t be a pro doesn’t mean you can’t have a fulfilling career around the thing you love.”
There are many different roles within esports – some more hands-on than others – and more non-endemic companies are opening esports divisions or adding roles that work within the space. Apart from being a pro gamer, there are a multitude of job opportunities in the esports industry including a Shoutcaster or Game Tester; Coach or Analyst; Journalist or Content Creator; Public Relations or Marketing Executive and so forth.
