Esports is the term for the collective creation of clubs, groups and tournaments where students at multiple universities play different video games, such as League of Legends. The esports industry is fast-growing. However, this industry growth presents a new challenge for regional Pacs and the NCAA. It must decide and define their plans for esports before the industry grows beyond them.
Newszoo, a market research firm that focuses on digital gaming, predicts that by 2020 esports could generate an estimated $1.5 billion in revenue. In 2016, the industry generated an estimated $493 million in revenue. Much of this comes from the growth of sponsors and brand investment in the industry.
This is important to people in Georgia as a big game developer, Hi-Rez, is located in Alpharetta. There were around 300,000 online viewers and 1,000 attendants to its event at Center Stage in Atlanta in March 2014. The revenue generated by Hi-Rez, and it’s twitch.tv channel, which was bought by Amazon, could help Georgia’s economy. Even more so if local universities and their teams began partnering with them.
