Esports, short for electronic sports, are video games played in a highly organized and competitive environment. The concept goes back to 1980 with the first official and registered event, a tournament for the 1978 arcade game Space Invaders, that attracted 10,000 players. As of 2023, Esports has grown into a US$1.72-billion market.
Esports has now found a home in Calgary at Bow Valley College (BVC), which is taking on this booming industry in a three-pronged approach: with the city’s first-ever esports arena, a variety of collegiate level Esports teams and an Esports Business Management Diploma. “If we can get even a small part of the industry, then we’re going to create opportunities for people here,” says Misheck Mwaba, BVC’s president and CEO.
BVC’s 3,500-square-foot Esports arena is a physical space on campus equipped with 40 PC gaming stations, two racing simulators and 18 gaming consoles (including Xbox, Nintendo and PlayStation). It’s also outfitted with adaptive gaming controllers and racing simulators that can be operated without pedals, a state-of-the-art broadcast suite, and a varsity Esports training room for team practices.
The Bow Valley College Bears recently joined the National Association of Collegiate Esports, has established varsity teams for games such as Valorant and League of Legends and has plans for a Super Smash Bros. team. As interest grows, the school plans to add other competitive games like Fortnite, Rocket League, EA SPORTS FC 25 and Street Fighter.
“We’ve been scrimmaging with Mount Royal University [and] the U of C team,” says Nick Olmstead, Bears Varsity Valorant coach and Esports program student. “We’re trying to stay in the collegiate space.”
BVC has looked at leagues with which to establish relationships at the provincial, national and international level, says Eddie Sargent, associate dean, Chiu School of Business. “There’s a big interest in all of those pieces,” he says.
But Esports at BVC isn’t just an opportunity to sit around and play video games. There’s also the new Esports Business Management Diploma, a two-year program consisting of 14 business classes and six esports management-specific classes geared toward careers in Esports, video games, video game business and technology companies.
A key component of the program is the Indie Ignition Accelerator, a mentorship and pitch program that funds entrepreneurs with innovative ideas in the Esports space. “What we are hoping for is that we are paving the way, because we are supporting not only the students who come to get the skills, but we’re also supporting those entrepreneurs who have got desires of developing their own companies,” says Mwaba.