Careers in esports – what’s possible? Miami University gives an example

It’s a dream for many, of course – making a living in esports. While most immediately think of pro players, the truth is that esports is a thriving industry with as wide a variety of jobs as, well, any other industry, really. From event planners to the physical therapists of esports teams, esports attracts all sorts of professionals in all sorts of situations – and its this variety that is becoming more and more well-known.

That’s a good thing too – several areas of the esports industry still have a lack of necessary talent, often because people aren’t yet aware of many of the opportunities out there. Thankfully, there are plenty of initiatives in place to change this – and the most recent one to do so is Miami’ University. On their main campus, they are hosting an annual gamers’ camp – this summer camp shows off esports as part of their varsity sports program, as well as their esports masters’ program. Students of this course receive a post-grad degree in esports management.

Aimed at teens, the camp has both fun and games and real education about coding, strategy, and the reality of working in the esports industry. This is the third year this camp has taken place. Miami U is a great location for this sort of thing as well – they were the first US Division 1 school to offer an academic esports program, and the first to have their own dedicated varsity esports team.

Around the globe

They’re far from the only ones though – various schools in the US have caught on and are extending their programs to include esports in some form. Well, of course the same is true for other countries! South Korea and the UK especially offer a whole variety of esports educational paths and so on. 

Hundreds of universities and colleges around the globe have started to offer various esports management courses, esports planning courses, and so on – many are still small programs, while others are large-scale, nationally-known programs. Over a half dozen UK unis also engage with various esports programs – and other countries like Malta, Finland and Spain also offer similar things.

In South Korea, things go much further, and long before Western schools adopted similar policies, esports was an available subject in middle and high schools. While not all schools offer it as a subject, many high schools offer various kinds of esports topics to study. Usually, these are related to esports management, esports event organisation and the like – and of course, that’s in addition to the extensive ways gaming.