14 DAY TRIAL // The University of Pikeville in Kentucky will start offering scholarships for talented League of Legends players starting this autumn.
As eSports are getting more and more popular, it seems likely that they will eventually break into mainstream competitions. Many gamers and even game developers are making a case for eSports to make it into the Olympics.
The notion is not as far-fetched as it may initially seem, given their popularity with the younger demographics. Just think about how the notion of a professional gamer used to be something that people would scoff at ten years ago.
Many people are still doing that now, in spite of major competitions having prize pools in the millions and drawing tens of millions of online spectators every year.
Dota 2's International championship was even broadcast by ESPN last year, and the move was so popular that the company vowed to double down on its eSports coverage this year.
Popular athletes are not what they used to be anymore
League of Legends and StarCraft 2 are said to be two of the most likely candidates to be included in such events, as they are seeing more and more attention from sponsors and supporters.
The first college in the United States to add eSports to its athletic program was Illinois' Robert Morris University last year. The Collegiate Star League numbers over 100 institutions so far, seeing students compete in League of Legends, StarCraft 2, Dota 2 and Hearthstone.
The University of Pikeville will join Robert Morris University, offering 20 scholarships for high-level players of Riot Games' multiplayer online battle arena game, when the next semester kicks off, this fall.
"It will be a regime a lot like athletics. They'll have to have a certain GPA (grade point average). We'll look at them like student athletes. There will be practice time and video time when they have to study other teams for upcoming competitions," Bruce Parsons, the college's new media director, told WYMT TV in an interview.
