eSports College: A Look into the LoL College Scholarship Program at Robert Morris University
Ever wondered what it would be like to attend college and play your favorite eSports full-time?
Last June 2014, Chicago private college Robert Morris University (RMU) made headlines when they began offering tiered scholarships for players of the popular Multiplayer Online Battle Arena (MOBA) game, League of Legends (LoL).
The LoL eSports team released a short video feature where they showed the day-to-day activities of RMU’s eSports Student-Athletes.
League scholarships are offered in different tiers, with scholars afforded up to 50 percent tuition and 50 percent room and board for entering their eSports program.
Associate Athletic Director Kurt Melcher is in charge of the school’s new varsity eSports program. He describes RMU’s support of student-athletes as a way of crediting those with a competitive spirit who don’t necessarily want to play traditional sports.
“We want them to be the best League player they can be, but also want them ultimately to graduate,” he said.
“Our athletes are just as dedicated to their craft as other traditional sports athletes are,” he added. “True, there is no cardiovascular component to it but if you start whittling down sports to that’s the only element then you start saying, ‘is football more of a sport than hockey?’ You start splitting hairs.”
In 2014, LoL ended the year with net revenues of over $1 billion and is widely regarded as the largest eSports title in the world in terms of market share and concurrent user base.
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