Myles Williams
Esports are competitive, organized video games in which competitors from different leagues or teams compete in the same game. The most popular games that people have been playing are Fortnite, Apex, League of Legends, NBA 2K and many more.
Over the past few years, the Esports market has grown exponentially. According to NewZoo.com, Esports has increased their revenue from $1.1 billion in 2021 to nearly $1.38 billion by the end of 2022. The global attendance has also been growing yearly, with a projected audience of 640 million by 2025. As the field grows more lucrative, many students are eager to gain knowledge and experience and UWG professor Dr. William Jang is leading the way.
Jang developed several Esports courses such as Intro to Esports Management,Playing & Watching Esports Games and others. The Georgia Film Academy now offers several courses of their own, such as fundamentals of Esports and Digital Entertainment & Esports Creative Development.
These courses will put you on the right track towards entering the Esports field. Students will have options for online or in-person classes to meet their schedule.
“I’m teaching both online and in-person esports classes,” said Jang. “XIDS-2002: Esports Games & Events is an in-person class, and SPMG-4685: Introduction to Esports Management and SPMG-4685: Esports Management classes are online.”
Along with the courses, an Esports minor will be offered soon. As for now, the School of Film, Media and Communication is still building this program.
“The Esports minor will be provided for all UWG students interested in esports and require 15-18 elective course credit hours,” said Jang. “Esports minor provides multidisciplinary studies based on four themes. The approved courses will provide classes throughout Communication, Film, and Media, Computing, Interdisciplinary Study, Marketing and Sport Management at UWG.”
If students take 18 credit hours of the three GFA digital entertainment, esports and game development courses students can achieve the esports minorand the certification with hands-on experience. If students want other concentrations, students can take 15 credit hours at UWG to achieve the esports minor. Classes such as game development, business aspects of the esports industry, or digital creative &casting will be offered.
“The Esports minor will be offered as a new curriculum regarding esports at UWG,” said Jang. “[Over] the last two years, the UWG Esports program has been developed dramatically based on the hard work of the Esports Advisory Council. Not only brand new esports courses, but we also have an esports varsity team with a coach, more esports spaces, UWG esports twitch channel, an official esports website, esports events at the campus, and esports research.”
The experience from taking an Esports class will definitely be worthwhile.
“Esports will not only be its own self-contained video gaming entertainment but also be a model for other sports industries looking to welcome more fans,” said Jang. “In this given phenomenon regarding esports, understanding the inner workings of Esports and its business is essential for sport management students. In my Intro to Esports Management and Esports Management courses, students will experience learning business management in the Esports context and understanding background knowledge regarding esports to apply marketing and management strategies.”
Students should continue to keep an eye out for these new Esport minor courses. With the popularity of Esports on the rise, those courses may fill up quickly.
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