Competitive video games, a pastime once commonplace only to sweaty basement parties and niche gaming events, have evolved into one of the world’s fastest-growing industries as of late. It’s better known these days as Esports, and it’s even gaining momentum here in Hampton Roads.

Just a quick history lesson on competitive gaming’s humble beginning: The earliest known competition saw the ’72 class of Stanford University students duking it out in a game called Spacewar, with the winner receiving a one-year subscription to Rolling Stone. On August 1, 1982, the Twin Galaxies Intergalactic Scoreboard issued a colorful poster that listed the world record high scores for more than two dozen arcade video games. The poster was distributed among arcades worldwide, which sparked a frenzy of players racing to take their place at the top. 1990 saw The Nintendo World Championships (NWC), which featured 30 stops in major cities, with its grand finale in Los Angeles. The winner in each age category received a $10,000 US Savings Bond and a new TV. If you grew up in the early 90s, you may look back fondly at the dial-up network battles of DOOM and Quake which pioneered and popularized the ‘deathmatch’ game mode so popular in today’s Esports shooter games.

According to Newzoo’s Global Esports and Live Streaming Market Report, the Esports industry is expected to exceed $1 billion in revenue this year. In 2016, Blizzard Entertainment (the creators of World of Warcraft and Starcraft) conceived a national city-based league for their action game Overwatch. Overwatch League (OWL) is structured similarly to the NFL and the NBA, with players earning at least $50,000 and all-expenses-paid housing to compete for the championship total of $2,500,000 over a nine-month season. The Overwatch League Grand Finals sold out the 12,000 seat Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia and drew in more than 1.12 million viewers per minute in the US.

I remember flying out for one of the inaugural games in Los Angeles to witness something that I knew was the precursor to a fundamental shift in how we view entertainment. The roar of the crowd, the thrill of the announcers, and the sweet taste of victory–no longer confined to traditional physical sporting events. Fast forward a few years and I was lucky enough to attend a sold-out game at The Anthem, a 2,500 capacity venue in Washington DC, and the atmosphere was electric. Wherever there are pro-leagues in any sport, collegiate leagues will inevitably sprout up to play a vital role in finding players and cementing the platforms necessary to keep the sport going.

Old Dominion University recently opened its Esport arena and broadcast facility on April 23rd, 2021. Located in the Webb Center, this state-of-the-art 2,400 square foot space boasts more than 50 high-end gaming computers and a broadcast/streaming studio. The program, which belongs to the National Association of Collegiate Esports (NACE), supports 16 teams across 10 different gaming titles, currently engaging nearly 100 students. I had a chance to get a few words in with Grant Deppen, the Assistant Director of Intramural Sports and Esports, and we spoke in detail about the current and future state of their program.

Michael Mahgerefteh: “Thank you so much for taking the time to speak with me on such a momentous and busy day for you, Grant! Tell me all about how this idea started and became the gorgeous facility that it is today.”

Grant Deppen: “Esports started at ODU in 2016 as a student organization. From there, it blossomed into a bigger following and our current vice president, Don Stansberry, came up to me and said, “I’ve been hearing about this from other schools and at conferences…take a look at this and what we can do, and if we can either make it some type of engagement activity that we formalize as a club or something even bigger.” We started investigating and talking with other students on campus and from that, we were able to recognize there is a huge undercurrent and subculture of gamers on campus. If we started formalizing it as a student club, it would evolve into a varsity program and an institutional thing. We then announced we would have a varsity program and started forming our teams.”

MM: “Can you give me a list of the titles that your teams are currently focused on?”

GD: “Call of Duty, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, FIFA, Fortnite, League of Legends, Overwatch, Rainbow Six: Siege, Rocket League, and VALORANT.”

MM: “Can you give me a very brief rundown on what it takes to establish a team with a new upcoming game title?”

GD: “You have to have people that want to play it. Just like VALORANT, it wasn’t even a game 15 months ago; and now, 85 different schools have teams with VALORANT. From there, we need to see if we have players at a high level. It’s really about the national scene: are there national tournaments that we can step into and be competitive? The level of organization and formalization of the competition that only high-level players can compete with is a big factor.”

MM: “What is the next big occasion coming up for ODU Esports?”

GD: “We have a student playing in the FIFA National Championship, it will be live-streamed through the national organization.”

MM: “What’s the closest school that’s doing something like this?”

GD: “There are a couple in the area: ECPI has a team; Regent has a team; Bryan-Stratton has a team. Shenandoah in Winchester has a program that’s been running for quite some time. We’re trying to connect this to academics and also include students who are broadcasting majors. We’re trying to see how we can involve other groups in the gamer space.”

MM: “What is your one-year goal?”

GD: “Find a way to support the students financially through donors, stipends, and scholarships. There are a lot of connections in the community to support the players and teams. I think there are great branding opportunities for a lot of local businesses to reach a younger audience.”

MM: “How can someone passionate about games, but not be very good at them, get involved and support ODU Esports?”

GD: “Follow us on social media, follow us on Twitch when we are streaming and casting, and just help us get the name out there.”

Michael Mahgerefteh

North Colley, NFK

Michael Mahgerefteh is a Norfolk Native specializing in Commercial Real Estate and Event Planning. Michael is the drummer and manager of Galaxy Dynamite, a space-rock outfit dubbed 'The King's of Space' on National Public Radio which has performed more than 500 shows all across the US. He is also the manager and part-owner of Colley Executive Offices, a locally owned and family-owned facility with private all-inclusive office spaces. As the creator of StarFire Festival, an event centered around music, art, video games and cosplay which boasted an attendance of more than 5,000, and also with experience as part of the Downtown100 and tHRive events committees, Michael is uniquely experienced in local business and events.

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