Oh The Places Newhouse Will Take You

In late September as part of a class field trip, my classmates and I took a bus from Syracuse to Brooklyn for of all things, a gaming tournament. Now many of you may be thinking “what’s a distinguished communications school like Newhouse have to do with gaming?” Well, Newhouse has a class called Esports and the Media. It is all about how Esports will be the next big sport and trying to understand all the aspects of the industry. This is the first class of its kind and on-top of that its sponsored by Twitch.

So, for the first time in my life, I went to the Barclays Center for the finals of the Electronic Sports League (ESL). This was also my first gaming-tournament and in the span of a few hours, myself and a few classmates were interviewed by ABC for a segment.

It is one thing to hear about how crazy these tournaments are. It is quite another to see these types of events live and in person. Having a glowing wristband that corresponds to loss of health and death during the game and so much more.

We were also able to get a behind the scenes look at how a big-tournament like this is put on. We got to see the production trucks, have an up-close and personal look at the trophy, and so much more.

I never imagined that I would be part of an inaugural class that deals with gaming. Having this class has really helped me see that there maybe a place for me in the Esports industry if sports broadcasting does not work out.