Getting in the Game: Esports as an Emerging College Access Point

• In Event: Equitable, Indifferent, or Unjust? College Access and Ascendance via Sport

Abstract

This presentation will discuss how electronic sports, Esports, are changing college access and admissions. This conceptual presentation utilizes college access and Esports literature to argue that college admissions must be diligent when considering adding Esports and subsequently using Esports to provide access to college. The purpose of this presentation is to inform the audience about what Esports are, consider the way Esports fit into higher education and college access, and examine the ways college access will be influenced as colleges add more Esport teams. The audience will grapple with critical questions around how technology shapes college access, and the ways that emerging sports can amplify or reduce inequity in college access, particularly among low income, rural or international college students.

Esports have grown tremendously in the last decade. More fans are tuning into watch and Esports generated over $400 million dollars globally in income between 2016 and 2018 (Marques, 2019). The increased emphasis on Esports has been aided by the increased notoriety of both professional and semi-professional Esports tournaments (Seo & Jung, 2016). Esports are becoming established and commercialized sports through traditional professional sport leagues, such as the NBA, creating partnerships with Esports teams and colleges athletic departments beginning to officially sponsor Esports teams (Keiper et al., 2017; McClellan, 2020; Schaeperkoetter et. al., 2017). Despite this growth, very little is known about Esports by general sporting fans and sport researchers (McClellan, 2020). Given the lack of general knowledge, this presentation will start with a discussion of what Esports are, provide a brief history of Esports in higher education and give an overview of the ways Esports are currently appearing on college campuses (Hamari & Sjbolo, 2017; Keiper et. al., 2017; McClellan, 2020; Schaeperkoetter et. al., 2017).

Next, this presenter will contextualize Esports in higher education access by considering access and issues in Esports broadly and the similarities with college access issues. Theoretically, Esports add opportunities for men, women and many others to participate, however, gaming has a history of exclusion and being an unwelcome space for racial minorities, women and other diverse identities (Gray & Leonard, 2018). Additionally, Esports are thriving internationally with Asia-Pacific and Europe accounting for more than half of Esport viewership (Reyes, 2021). With these realities, it is tempting for colleges to leverage new Esport teams to address inequities and to gain a larger international reach. However, what does this mean for who is able to get access? Specifically, this portion of the presentation will lay the foundation for examining how college access will be affected by Esports.

The presentation will conclude by exploring three questions that address how college access could be impacted by Esport addition to colleges. First, the presenter will answer what adding Esports means for college access, specifically considering who gains access to college through Esports. Next, the presenter will grapple with the ways that Esports amplify college access inequities. Lastly, the presentation will close by considering how practitioners, coaches and athletic administrators can practically leverage Esports to help reduce college access barriers.

Author

• Wayne Black, University of Cincinnati