Ball State University held a virtual ribbon cutting ceremony for its new state-of-the-art Esports Center.
“We’re ecstatic to officially unveil our new home,” said Dan Marino, director of Ball State’s Esports program. “At Ball State, our beautiful campus is our canvas. This Esports Center is our university’s latest addition, which improves the sense of place for our students.”
Ball State’s College of Communication, Information, and Media is the home of the University’s new Esports program. Ball State’s team is one of 12 members of the Mid-American Conference (MAC) to join the newly created independent Esports Collegiate Conference (ESC). The conference fields teams in League of Legends, Rocket League, and Overwatch divisions.
The 3,611-square-foot Esports Center located on campus in the Robert Bell Building features:
“Our program and new facilities will help us achieve our goal of enhancing academic offerings by bringing esports experiences into curricula across multiple disciplines including digital sports production, business, computer sciences, animation, and sport administration,” said Dr. Paaige Turner, Dean of the College of Communication, Information, and Media at Ball State.
According to CNN, "ESports describes the world of competitive, organized video gaming. Competitors from different leagues or teams face off in the same games that are popular with at-home gamers: Fortnite, League of Legends, Counter-Strike, Call of Duty, Overwatch and Madden NFL, to name a few. These gamers are watched and followed by millions of fans all over the world, who attend live events or tune in on TV or online. Streaming services like Twitch allow viewers to watch as their favorite gamers play in real time, and this is typically where popular gamers build up their fandoms."
