As the coronavirus continues to wreak havoc on traditional fall sports, historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) are leaning into a growing athletic trend: esports.
That’s right, video games.
The Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference announced earlier this month that it was canceling all fall sports, including football. But it also shared that it’s partnering with Blaze Fire Games to launch an esports league for HBCUs. On July 5, HBCU Heroes, a nonprofit to support historically Black colleges, held its first HBCU esports competition. And even before that, individual HBCUs like Hampton University, Johnson C. Smith University, Florida Memorial University and Lincoln University started dipping a toe into the multimillion (approaching billion) dollar industry.
Past generations might question gaming’s merit as a real sport, but the competition has real fans and investors. According to a recent report by the market researcher Newzoo, esports is expected to generate $973.9 million in revenue worldwide in 2020 and surpass a billion in 2021 – and that’s the company’s revised, more modest estimate since the pandemic hit.
“The industry is going to continue to grow,” said Dr. BerNadette Lawson-Williams, a professor of sports management at Johnson C. Smith University, who helped found the school’s new esports and gaming management program. There’s been a “surge of popularity because of COVID-19. But even beyond that, the esports market is going to thrive. The interest is there.”
Her university is introducing an esports minor in the fall – and unveiling an esports lab and student club – with a focus on preparing students for careers on the business end of the gaming industry.
“For those who game, they already have that advantage of the technical skills and the technical understanding of the industry. All you’re doing is taking that love and fondness of esports and transitioning it into a career,” Lawson-Williams said. “Isn’t that what we always say – follow your passion? Hey, [students are] already passionately playing esports in the dormitory, so why not transform that passion into the classroom and into job opportunities?”
