Esports Performance, Management, and Leadership, Post-Baccalaureate Certificate

Program Coordinator: Dr. Ray Pastore

This 15 credit hour certificate in Esports Performance, Management, and Leadership is designed to meet the needs of those who are interested in improving their knowledge and skills of leadership, coaching and mentorship, creating esports and gaming content and media, incorporating esports and gaming into education, and designing, managing, and leading esports programs and events. The certificate program serves graduate students who desire to expand their knowledge, skills, and expertise to have a career in esports and related events.

Esports are competitive games played electronically via a computer whereby competitors (professional and amateur) compete in high stakes events. These high stakes events have led to an industry that has rapidly grown over the last decade. For example, In 2017, esports viewership was nearly as big as Major League Baseball and the National Hockey Leagues combined (Goldman Sachs Equity Report, 2018). Recent viewership of the 2018 League of Legends championship peaked at 100 million viewers, the same as the 2019 Super Bowl, and 3x higher than the baseball World Series. Streaming esports platforms Twitch and Youtube Gaming each have more subscribers than HBO, Netflix, and Spotify. Sponsors for esports related events include Nike, Coca-Cola, Mercedes Benz, the U.S. Navy, the U.S. Army and the list goes on. According to Newzoo (2019), a company that focuses on game and esports analytics, esports generated $906 million dollars of revenue in 2018.  Goldman Sachs (2018) estimates that esports revenue will grow 35-40% per year for the foreseeable future. They predict it will topple $1 billion in 2019, $2 billion in 2021 and be as much as $3 billion, by 2022. esports is also being considered for the 2024 Olympics in Paris France. 

As a result, this growing industry has created a market for many new job opportunities that didn’t exist 10 years ago. esports organizations demand highly skilled workers who are able to teach, lead, coach, manage, design and develop multimedia, shoutcast, and analyze data in an esports environment. According to ziprecruiter, the average salary for those involved in esports is $71,891 per year.  Additionally, educators are implementing esports programs in both K12 and higher education to increase students engagement, retention, and achievement. The certificate in esports Performance, Management, and Leadership responds to this need by providing an in-depth foundation in esports so that learners are able to apply their knowledge to real world events, their future careers, and organizations interested in an esports program.

The conceptual framework used to develop competencies for this certificate is based on the model proposed by Anderson, Tsaasan, Reitman, Lee, Wu, Steele, Turner & Steinkuehler (2018) of the North American Scholastic esports Federation (NASEF). This model was designed to meet the needs of a growing esports workforce. It was originally developed for high school curriculum and has been adapted for the post secondary and professional student. It connects four sectors of esports, which include: strategists, organizers, content creators, and entrepreneurs. Appendix A shows how proposed program goals are aligned with the NASEF esports sectors for esports curriculum. 

Program goals 

• Demonstrate a conceptual and practical knowledge of the history, current state, and future of esports.
• Explore the relationship between esports and education, how they impact one another, and the role of education in the future of esports.
• Demonstrate competencies in managing, designing, and developing esports events, programs, and spaces (arenas).
• Design and Develop media and content for esports programs and events using a variety of multimedia and web technologies.
• Analyze, evaluate, and apply coaching, mentoring, and leadership strategies at all levels of esports (K-12, Collegiate, and Professional).
• Demonstrate a conceptual and practical knowledge of the role that ethics and critical literacy have on gaming and esports
• Apply course content to real world projects and scenarios.