E-sports and the Future of Collegiate Athletics and Recreation, by Will Schenck and Preston Scott

When you hear the term “E-sports”, what do you think of? Many folks have an image of a socially isolated 20-something-year-old living in their parents’ basement, wearing a Mountain Dew® -stained t-shirt and Cheetos® dust-covered sweatpants playing video games for hours on end. This stereotype may be common, but there is much more to collegiate E-sports than the surrounding stigma.

E-sports are multiplayer videogames played competitively for spectators. Fostering a spirit of teamwork, inclusion, and wellness, E-sports prepare students for real-world jobs and challenges.

E-sports is also a growing industry that’s made its mark and proven it’s here to stay. E-sports sponsors include major brands like Adidas, Coca-Cola, Samsung, Mastercard, and Sony. Through streaming services like Twitch, YouTube Gaming, and Mixer, E-sports tournaments reach millions of fans around the world and surpass the viewership of even the most influential athletic events. In 2018, 97 million viewers tuned in to watch the NCAA Final Four. 103 million viewers watched the Super Bowl. The League of Legends World Championship, however, attracted over 200 million viewers as teams battled for over $6 million from the prize pool. The reality of competitive E-sports is a world of opportunity that is largely concealed by the stigma that surrounds videogaming.

E-sports is a booming young industry, and the benefits of collegiate E-sports programs are abundant. E-sports programs can be an overall enrollment driver, attracting nontraditional students, connecting potentially isolated students to each other and their school, and boosting GPAs. E-sports involvement can also be a springboard to a multitude of post-graduation career opportunities, including:

  • Professional E-sports Player
  • Coach or Analyst
  • Shoutcaster/Host
  • Broadcast Production
  • Public Relations & Marketing
  • Sales & Partnerships
  • Team Ownership & Management
  • Agent or Event Manager
  • Statistician, Lawyer, or Finance
  • Game Developer

With so many opportunities in the E-sports world, there’s no wonder why colleges and universities across the country have added e-sports programs on campus. But how did they do it?

Once an institution has decided to pursue adding E-sports to campus, it must first decide how to define E-sports for their campus. Will it be housed by athletics, will it be a club team, or will it be for individual recreational play? Decision makers must discern the top priorities for their institution, as there are pros and cons to all three options:

  • An E-sports program housed by the athletics department can host tournaments, obtain sponsorships, support college or university branding, offer scholarships, and recruit students who are serious about E-sports. The NCAA has not yet embraced E-sports, though, in part because players receive compensation and there are potential risks of online gambling and Title IX issues. Women account for approximately 50% of videogaming enthusiasts but only an estimated 5% of professional E-sports athletes, so it’s no surprise that gender disparity is common on E-sports teams.
  • An E-sports program housed within club sports is more student-focused, under the jurisdiction of Student Life, and open to the entire campus. There would be similar opportunities for sponsorships and recruitment as an athletics-housed E-sports program, but student players would share any compensation with their team. However, it is easier for players to leave a club sports program, and club E-sports teams would not be able to host tournaments or contribute to the college or university’s marketing like an athletic team could. The main challenge, though, is a lack of guaranteed resources and funding from the University, especially in comparison to an E-sports program housed by athletics.
  • When it comes to individual recreational E-sports offerings on campus, there are virtually no restrictions and more compensation potential for individual players. However, there is no formal recruitment process for recreational E-sports, the program is less campus-focused, and players are more isolated. There is also a lack of opportunities for tournament hosting, sponsorships, and marketing in a recreational E-sports setup.

After defining E-sports for your specific institution, the next major consideration is budget. The average startup cost for computer equipment for 25 students is $43,000. An additional approximately $20,000 is needed for furniture, spectator LED screens, team jerseys or spiritwear, and branding. An E-sports coach’s salary tends to lie somewhere between $40,000 and $60,000 annually. If the E-sports program is housed by athletics or club sports, though, there is potential for sponsorships to help offset some of the startup cost.
E-sports arena construction is also a major budget consideration, and the cost can vary greatly. Facility size will play a major role in defining cost, and construction cost can be anywhere from $80 to $500 per square foot depending on facility location. An interior renovation tends to run $80 to $120 per square foot, the repurposing of an existing building is usually $180 to $220 per square foot, and new construction is the largest financial investment at $350 to $500 per square foot. Full Sail University’s 11,200-square-foot E-sports facility with capacity for 100 athletes and 500 spectators, a concert-grade PA system, full production studio, and a 10 million-pixel LED wall was a $6 million investment. However, the Hastings+Chivetta-designed Game Hut at Columbia College, one of the nation’s first E-sports facilities, was less than a half million dollar investment that repurposed an existing 840-square-foot building with 10 gaming PCs, two console lounges, and a player lounge for the college’s championship team.

Regardless of dollar amount or square footage, space planning and infrastructure are also vital factors in the addition of a campus E-sports program. Needed hardware includes gaming PCs with high-end graphics cards, high-resolution monitors, a private gaming server, and a gaming keyboard, mouse, and headset for each station. Internet access needs to be hardwired, either using existing infrastructure or by building a dedicated pipeline. Within the games, needed infrastructure includes anti-cheating systems, random seeding or skill level matching services, and heartbeating1.

The space planning effort to integrate E-sports into a college’s athletics, club sports, or recreational offerings considers user groups, building code analysis, future planning, and key adjacencies and interchanges. Is the E-sports program part of varsity athletics or club sports, or is it recreational? Will the space host community or public events? Whatever the answers to these questions are, it’s important to design an E-sports facility with flexible furniture and infrastructure that can accommodate future program expansion.

Once a stigma-laden hobby, the E-sports world is now taking its place at the top of both collegiate and professional realms. The rise of E-sports has proved to be far more permanent and impactful than any passing fad, and institutions across the nation are adding programs to campus. If your college or university is one of them, reach out to the Hastings+Chivetta E-sports experts for guidance through the process:

Will Schenck
[email protected]
(314) 529-4015

Preston Scott
[email protected]
(314) 529-4016

1Heartbeating is the intermittent capturing of data during gameplay that automatically detects important moments and enables researchers and announcers to observe player behavior and define moments of victory or defeat.

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Hastings+Chivetta Project Architect Carl Drafall, RA, LEED AP BD+C recently spent a day with students from Cor Jesu Academy during their Summer Engineering Experience (S.E.E.) week to talk about engineering disciplines and how they interact with architects.

Drafall helped lead the 16 students through interactive activities to learn about construction scheduling and estimating, focused specifically on the Hastings+Chivetta-designed Performance Gym and Student Commons that is currently being constructed on their campus. The day-long activities were done at the building site, giving the students a special insight into how the project is progressing.

The 39,400 SF project will allow the private K-12 school to provide new courses and state-of-the-art learning, as well as grow the school’s sports programs. The three-level performance gym is comprised of a performance court, bleachers and weight and workout rooms. The student commons area overlooks the gym and will have a multipurpose room, athletic offices and new classrooms. The building will incorporate open and flexible space to allow students to gather and collaborate in study areas. The project is scheduled to be complete in 2017.

Hastings+Chivetta has partnered with Cor Jesu during S.E.E. week for all three years of the program’s existence. The program allows rising junior and senior students to work side-by-side with industry professionals in a hands-on effort to provide understanding and generate excitement about career opportunities in the field of engineering.

Colleges and universities across the country are incorporating makerspaces into their new and renovated STEM buildings to provide a place for students and faculty to create, invent, learn and build stuff together.

These hands-on spaces are equipped with cutting edge software and technology ‑ including 3D printers, robotics equipment, welding supplies and more – to encourage collaboration and entrepreneurship.

The University of Tulsa is one school embracing this trend, enlisting Hastings+Chivetta to design makerspaces in Rayzor and Stephenson halls. Rayzor Hall, which is pictured at left, is home to the departments of Computer Science and Electrical Engineering. Stephenson houses Mechanical Engineering and the McDougall School of Petroleum Engineering. Spaces in those buildings focus on robotics, software design, prototyping, and also include special areas for senior projects.

Students using these labs are collaborating on projects ranging from building robots for national competitions to experimenting with drones. The projects are interdisciplinary, hands on and collaborative – much like the real world.

The University of Tulsa is not alone in looking to Hastings+Chivetta to program and design cutting edge makerspaces:

  • Engineering students at the Arthur Weisberg Family Applied Engineering Complex at Marshall University are enjoying one of the few Advanced Material Testing Laboratories in the country. The lab creates an ideal spot to tinker and test new ideas. The 2½-foot thick concrete floor can resist up to 50,000 pounds of force.
  • Construction management students at John Brown University use studio space in the Balzer Technology Center as an intersection between classroom theory and real construction projects. Working in this environment helps students develop problem solving and communication skills in a way the classroom environment cannot.
  • Engineering students at John Brown University also use the Balzer Technology Center for experimental projects such as building robots for NASA competitions or researching and building projects for the international community. The students use equipment such as jet engines and 3D prototyping tools to complete their projects.

Research has shown that today’s students are more successful learners in this self-directed manner. Colleges and universities are embracing this academic trend and providing more laboratories to create a connected and interactive learning experience.

Sustainability expert Leslie Garner and Project Architect Bob Bohack recently spoke at the I2SL conference in San Diego about how the Southern Illinois University Edwardsville New Science Building is able to accommodate current and future students while resourcefully integrating sustainable features.

Among the strategies used in the building:

  • Grouping fume hoods on the top two floors, reducing the overall ductwork running to the rooftop exhaust system
  • Strategically grouping offices to create zones for the air-handling system
  • Employing a VAV system of two units for the labs: one for office areas and one for the vivarium and aquaria

The end result is a LEED Silver building that accommodates the lab classes five days a week instead of the seven days a week that was previously needed.

A full overview of their presentation can be found on the I2SL website.

When classes begin this fall in the new Arthur Weisburg Family Applied Engineering Complex on the campus of Marshall University, school officials expect an increase in enrollment in technology and engineering programs due in large part to the offerings provided in the new facility. The 152,000 square foot building  is organized to promote collaboration between the university’s colleges and research corporations. The complex will house six different academic and research programs that include the College of Information Technology, Mechanical & Electrical Engineering, Mathematics & Computational Science, Computer Modeling & Digital Imaging, Transportation Research Corporation and the Marshall University Research Corporation (MURC).

Read more about the complex in the Charleston Gazette.

Saint Louis University’s board of trustees approved funding for the $43.8 million new residence hall on Saturday, allowing the project to move forward. Hastings+Chivetta is the architect for the eight-story, 153,000 SF building. The 450-bed residence hall will serve first- and second-year students. See the full story in the St. Louis Business Journal.

Hastings+Chivetta has hired recent graduate and former summer intern Cameron McRae as an Intern Architect. He will create 3D models of projects as well as work on floor plans, site plans and other drawings for clients.

Cameron earned his Bachelor of Science in Architecture at Washington University in 2014. He plans to eventually return to graduate school to earn a master’s degree in architecture.

Cameron is from Jackson, Mississippi and is an avid reader, involved with his fraternity’s alumni association, a camper and is enjoying exploring St. Louis.

Hastings+Chivetta has been named architect for St. Louis University’s new residence hall on its Frost campus. The building will increase the number of undergraduates living on SLU’s campus from 40 percent to 50 percent. Find the full story in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch here.

Hastings+Chivetta Architects, Inc. was recently ranked as a top architecture firm serving the university sector. The annual list is compiled by Building Design + Construction magazine and is based on 2013 revenue from higher education clients. Hastings+Chivetta was ranked 36 out of 115 architecture firms on the Top University Sector Architecture Firms list. Find the full list and story here. In the same BD+C report, Hastings+Chivetta was also ranked 52 out of 300 top architectural firms in the country.