{"id":6585,"date":"2019-10-11T06:30:33","date_gmt":"2019-10-11T11:30:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/thesportjournal.org\/?p=6585"},"modified":"2019-10-10T15:08:54","modified_gmt":"2019-10-10T20:08:54","slug":"how-historically-black-colleges-and-universities-hbcus-can-benefit-from-e-sports-while-adding-diversity-into-the-gaming-industry","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thesportjournal.org\/article\/how-historically-black-colleges-and-universities-hbcus-can-benefit-from-e-sports-while-adding-diversity-into-the-gaming-industry\/","title":{"rendered":"How Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) Can Benefit From E-Sports While Adding Diversity into the Gaming Industry"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Authors:<\/strong> David C. Hughes & Dr. W. Timothy Orr <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Corresponding Author:<\/strong>
Hughes, David C; Dr. Orr, Timothy, W;
134 Holland Hall Hampton University
Hampton, VA, 23668
David.hughes@hamptonu.edu
832-425-4484<\/p>\n\n\n\n

David C. Hughes
Hampton University<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dr. W. Timothy Orr
Hampton University<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

David C. Hughes sits on the board of Directors for the Drake\nGroup, is a Capstone Advisor at Georgetown University, and serves as an\nInstructor of Sport Management at Hampton University. Dr. W. Timothy Orr is a\nformer collegiate coach, athletic director, and student athlete. Dr. Orr\ncurrently serves as the Program Coordinator for the Masters of Sport Management\nat Hampton University.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How\nHistorically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) Can Benefit From E-Sports\nWhile Adding Diversity into the Gaming Industry<\/strong><\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

ABSTRACT<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dr.\nShaun R. Harper infamously came to the conclusion that \u201cPerhaps nowhere in\nhigher education is the disenfranchisement of Black male students more\ninsidious than in college athletics\u201d (7). This quote is not attributed to\nHistorically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), but to the power five\nconferences of Predominately\nWhite Institutions (PWIs). As of 2019, Black E-Sport coaches make up less than\n2% of coaches at PWIs (20). Professional gaming or better known as E-Sports is\nnot only a billion dollar industry (17), but has allowed for over $15 million\ndollars in\ncollegiate scholarships to be awarded for the 2016-2019 school year (20). Yet,\nno Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) have started an E-Sports\nteam. HBCUs are excluding themselves from a billion dollar industry, while also\nfailing to increase the diversity of E-Sports participators, coaches at PWIs\nand HBCUs, and Black professional gamers. \nThis paper has practical application as it provides convincing evidence\nas to why HBCUs could not only benefit from investing in E-Sports, but can help\nthe professional gaming industry with its diversity issue. <\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

Keywords: <\/strong>Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), Predominately White Intuitions (PWIs), E-Sports<\/p>\n\n\n\n

INTRODUCTION<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cE-Sports will rival the biggest\ntraditional sports leagues in terms of future opportunities, and between\nadvertising, ticket sales, licensing, sponsorships and merchandising, there are\ntremendous growth areas for this nascent industry\u201d \u2013Steve Borenstein, Chairman\nof Activision Blizzard\u2019s E-Sports Division and Former CEO of ESPN and NFL\nNetwork.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The first video game competition was\nrecorded on October 19, 1972, at Stanford University\u2019s Artificial Intelligence\nLaboratory, in which about two dozen students competed playing Spacewar (13). Now,\n47 years later and E-Sports revenue will exceed $1.6 billion by 2021 (17). E-Sport\nsimply put is \u201cprofessional gaming\u201d, and is the newest trend in sport management.\nSince 2016, over 130 colleges and universities started E-Sport teams and\/or\nacademic programs. In three years, over $15 million dollars were awarded in\nscholarships (20). Unfortunately, Historically\nBlack Colleges & Universities (HBCUs) have not followed the trend in\nestablishing an E-Sports varsity team or academic program (15). This paper will\nexplore three benefits for HBCUs to consider adding E-Sports to its academic\ncurriculum: impact on institutional culture, social and community awareness,\nand institutional financial rewards. The importance of HBCUs inclusion in E-Sports\nis extremely significant because of current trends in the industry. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Problem Statement<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Issues <\/em>
Currently, the list of universities\nthat are involved in E-Sports gaming are all Predominately White Institutions (PWIs)\n(15), which have been justly or unjustly scrutinized for not representing the total\npopulation of students who are passionate about E-Sports gaming (i.e. African\nAmericans). School leagues or associations are underrepresented by females and people\nof color, which should be a green flag for all HBCUs to get into E-Sports (18).\nThis should give HBCUs an incentive to show their merit in competing with the\nother institutions. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Impact on Institutional Culture<\/em>
A common misconception is video\ngames are just for men. According to a study conducted by the Pew Research\nCenter, 48% of women play video games in the United States (5, 12). Since both Black women and Black men have been limited\nin their accessibility to enter the E-Sports arena (18), having an HBCU to\ncreate an E-Sports program could sojourn this issue. In 2016, The Entertainment\nSoftware Association revealed that women of all races over the age of 18 account\nfor a greater portion of the gaming community compared to boys 18 and under.\nThe number of women who are playing video games continues to rise. Female\ngamers increased by 70% from 2011-2014, 18 million to 30.3 million (10, 12). Since\nE-Sports is fairly new, there is a lack of data to support the interpretation of\nthe number of women who are currently participating in E-Sports, but women are\nstarting to make an impact in the industry. Intel has begun to sponsor female\nonly competitive teams to raise the number of female competitors (2, 11, 12).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 The host of\n“The Culture of Sports\u201d on Anne Arundel Cable Network in Maryland,\nJonathan Yates, wrote an article in the Baltimore Sun proposing that all four\nMaryland HBCUs along with the state high schools start E-Sports programs (22). In\na recent study, <\/em>Shenandoah\nUniversity explored numerous reasons E-Sports programs benefit sport management\nstudents. E-Sports generates a significant amount of revenue, both in the sport\nmanagement program and the school overall (19). Shenandoah University highlights\nthe skills that E-Sports benefit its students such as quick cognitive and\nstrategic thinking, mental agility, intellectual curiosity, and creativity. In\naddition to E-Sports gaming added to the academic curriculum, an increase in\nfreshman enrollment is expected (19).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Shenandoah University will become\nthe first to offer an academic major in E-Sports in the state of Virginia in\nthe fall of 2019. This is becoming such a huge addition to their school they\nare advertising it as a \u201cNew World\u201d of gaming that is arriving at our\nfingertips (19). An essential reason why E-Sports should be added to the\ncurriculum at HBCUs is that it gives African American students the opportunity\nto enhance life and social skills by competing globally and being able to\ninteract and succeed on a global stage. It is imperative that HBCUs realize the\nconsequences of not having this academic major\nand how it can negatively impact the school and overall community. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Social and Community Benefits<\/em>
With E-Sport gaming becoming a part\nof the HBCU culture, history has proven that alumni giving, donations, apparel\nsales school, and community pride increase when a student representing their\ninstitution wins a competition (14). African Americans competing in E-Sports\ngaming illustrate we not only have the physical attributes to compete but also the\nintellectual capacity to be successful in a flourishing industry. This gives HBCUs\nanother way to enhance its regional and national exposure within an industry on\nthe rise. The authors believe this will inspire the community to get more\ninvolved within the university because they will see their HBCUs represented\nwell and want to invest.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Institutional Financial Benefits<\/em>
Since E-Sports is now a billion\ndollar industry (17), this new low maintenance untapped billion dollar industry\n(12) has the opportunity to change the culture of a universities sports program\novernight. The video game industry is increasing revenue in a couple of ways:\n1) fans are buying more products, 2) they are hosting tournaments, (3) as the\ndata has shown, $2.3 billion gamers worldwide spent about $137.9 billion on\ndifferent video games this year (21).  The\nE-Sports tournament can bring in such a significant increase\nin revenue to the university that it will give schools the opportunity to give\nstudents a better experience within its program (1). For example, there are\nstadiums such as the \u201cBarclays Center\u201d that is being sold out due to E-Sports\ngaming tournaments (4). This allows the university to expand where it is needed\nand gives students the opportunity to be a part of history. Shenandoah’s Sports\nManagement program will have the potential to grow exponentially and have the opportunity\nto compete (19). This kind of gaming is unique in its own way and it allows\nstudents to compete at a high level and represent their school. E-Sports provide\nstudents with a method to be versatile in developing, growing, and the\nopportunity to earn a scholarship in the future. This is an opportunity to make\na career, host tournaments, and the potential to run conferences for E-Sports. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Conclusion<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The E-Sports industry is beginning\nto grow rapidly and sponsors are willing to take the next step by investing.\nThis is huge for all HBCUs to get involved and begin to start adding the\nprogram to its sports management curriculum and\/or varsity sports. E-Sports are\nsimilar to teams such as the chess club or debate team but different from your\ntraditional team varsity sports at HBCUs such as football and basketball.  E-Sports forces students to focus on\ncognitive strategies, group communication, leadership, teamwork, and cohesion,\nwhich are critical to success in any team sport. In addition, once HBCUs get\ninto the business it is going to shift the culture and allow students to excel even\nmore. E-Sports are also similar in that it gives students the opportunity to be\nmotivated and the community to get involved in support of the students. The\nonly potential downfall to African American students getting involved in E-Sport\ngaming is other races may have a slight advantage of having experience on console-based\ngaming compared to PC-based gaming. The majority of White\/Asian players were\nintroduced to gaming via joysticks to mouse clicks whereas Black students\ntypically prefer using a console or PC-based sports (18). However, this can be\nfixed with proper training. It is the intent of the authors to encourage HBCUs not\nto wait and begin to explore ways to get involved in E-Sports gaming and get\nits rightful share of a multi-billion dollar industry.  The amount of media and publicity HBCUs would acquire\nwill be incredible. The E-Sports industry is definitely on the rise and\neveryone has the ability to get involved and enhance the institutional brand\nand financial stability.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Chandler\nAllen Hughes always remember \u201cRace First\u201d. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

References<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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  18. Peterson, L.\n (2018, March 27). Why aren\u2019t more black kids going pro in esports?<\/em>\n Retrieved from The Undefeated:\n https:\/\/theundefeated.com\/features\/why-arent-more-black-kids-going-pro-in-esports\/<\/li>
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  22. Yates, J. (2019,\n January 1). HBCUs and eSports: a match made in STEM heaven?<\/em> Retrieved\n from The Baltimore Sun:\n https:\/\/www.baltimoresun.com\/opinion\/op-ed\/bs-ed-op-0102-hbcu-esports-20181220-story.html<\/li><\/ol>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Authors: David C. Hughes & Dr. W. Timothy Orr Corresponding […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_options":[]},"categories":[976,291],"tags":[1511,1510,1509],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4btio-1Id","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":5198,"url":"https:\/\/thesportjournal.org\/article\/factors-influencing-the-academic-performance-of-african-american-student-athletes-in-historically-black-colleges-and-universities\/","url_meta":{"origin":6585,"position":0},"title":"Factors Influencing the Academic Performance of African American Student-Athletes in Historically Black Colleges and Universities","date":"August 3, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Authors: Ian DeVol Scott, Dr. Jason Castles Corresponding Authors: Ian DeVol Scott 921 S. 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