It's Possible to Earn Scholarships for Playing League of Legends

[Esmeralda Portillo]

It's Possible to Earn Scholarships for Playing League of Legends

One university is now offering scholarships for students that are League of Legends eSport athletes.

Back in July 2013, the U.S. recognized eSports players as professional athletes. [http://www.forbes.com/sites/insertcoin/2013/07/14/the-u-s-now-recognizes-esports-players-as-professional-athletes/] Since then, eSports continues to be a topic of much popularity and debate, more so now thanks to the Robert Morris University. The Illinois-based university is now offering scholarships for League of Legend eSport athletes that can cover up to 50% tuition and 50% room and board.

This is in conjunction with their introduction of eSports in their athletic program and the creation of the RMU Varsity eSport League of Legends team. The Varsity eSports team will compete against other colleges nationwide and from Canada in the Collegiate Starleague, a tournament that sends teams to Riot's North American Collegiate Championship. The championship nets winners $100,000 in scholarship funds.

According to the Associate Athletic Director Kurt Melcher, "Robert Morris University has always been at the forefront of providing opportunities for a diverse student population with different interests and skills. League of Legends is a competitive, challenging game which requires significant amount of teamwork to be successful."

They've already begun recruiting prospective students for their eSports program for this fall quarter that begins in September. The university is considering competitors that have participated in the League of Legends High School Starleague and other similar tournaments.

Source: GameSpot [http://www.gamespot.com/articles/scholarships-now-available-for-league-of-legends-players/1100-6420605/]

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[Tireseas_v1legacy]

I hope they're not covered by the NCAA...

 

[clippen05]

Good to hear! As someone who appreciates traditional sports (Mainly just European Football) as well as eSports, its good to see that they are coming to be accepted as legitimate, competitive games by people.

 

[Akisa]

Well I hope they move onto Dota 2, I don't really enjoy LoL but at least it's a step in the right direction.

I hope they're not covered by the NCAA...

Why would it matter if it's covered by NCAA?

 

[Victim of Progress]

Why do people get scholarships for athletic ability in the first place in the US? Is thos about inter college competition and status?

This is what I wondered about as well. How is sport going to help your studies. And how is it related to your academic status in the first place?

 

[Lieju]

Why do people get scholarships for athletic ability in the first place in the US? Is thos about inter college competition and status?

This is what I wondered about as well. How is sport going to help your studies. And how is it related to your academic status in the first place?

Well, I guess you might get a profession out of it?
Although that would just be a small percentage of those students...

I'm Finnish, so I don't understand high school sports anyway (I think there's a lot of money in it?) but scholarships for sports seem counterproductive to me.

 

[ccggenius12]

Why do people get scholarships for athletic ability in the first place in the US? Is thos about inter college competition and status?

Why do people get scholarships for athletic ability in the first place in the US? Is thos about inter college competition and status?

This is what I wondered about as well. How is sport going to help your studies. And how is it related to your academic status in the first place?

Yes, it's entirely because of inter-college competition in sports. Colleges receive a lot of funding through donations, and having a successful sports team attracts more of them. Plus, many times donations are marked with conditions for which they are to be spent, and if a donor says the million they gave must be given out as scholarships, well, you can fill in the rest.
BTW, that kind of ties in to why the US declared League a sport. As a sport, that means that we can import talent on work visas. So as with baseball, since we can't breed the best players in the world, we can just buy them.

EDIT: I forgot to mention the CRAZY money a college can earn with memorabilia for a successful sports team. Dropping a million on scholarships is nothing when you're making tens of millions on t-shirts and bobble heads.

 

[Rellik San]

Yes, it's entirely because of inter-college competition in sports. Colleges receive a lot of funding through donations, and having a successful sports team attracts more of them. Plus, many times donations are marked with conditions for which they are to be spent, and if a donor says the million they gave must be given out as scholarships, well, you can fill in the rest.
BTW, that kind of ties in to why the US declared League a sport. As a sport, that means that we can import talent on work visas. So as with baseball, since we can't breed the best players in the world, we can just buy them.

EDIT: I forgot to mention the CRAZY money a college can earn with memorabilia for a successful sports team. Dropping a million on scholarships is nothing when you're making tens of millions on t-shirts and bobble heads.

Well once again the US proving it has probably one of the creepiest education systems in the world. :S

 

[MCerberus]

All that's missing is worthless degrees that do nothing but justify the person as being in the school.
Game design it is!


That's really... like... only 25% a joke

 

[Strazdas]

The championship nets winners $100,00 in scholarship funds.

100 dollars? is that all? or is it a typo? 10.000 dollars? 100.000 dollars? which one is it?!

 

[Esmeralda Portillo]

The championship nets winners $100,00 in scholarship funds.

100 dollars? is that all? or is it a typo? 10.000 dollars? 100.000 dollars? which one is it?!

Typo. It is $100,000.