As the area of competitive gaming grows on a collegiate level, the organizers of an “esports” competition at Kansas State University say they’re making plans for future tournaments.
The inaugural WTC Fiber Cup esports event was held at K-State on Friday. The tournament, which was sponsored by WTC Communications of Wamego and streamed live on Twitch by Wildcat 91.9 FM, featured fifteen kids. Students gave color commentary for the tournament, which pitted five three-person teams against each other in the arcade-style game Rocket League, which combines aspects of soccer and vehicle racing.
Playing video games has suddenly become an international sport, according to Branson, a student studying management information systems, with some gaming tournaments offering million-dollar awards to the winning team. WTC Fiber Cup winners received a top prize of $150 split three ways and a trophy for each team member. Branson declared the competition a success despite a lower-than-expected number of registered teams.
Branson stated, “I’m extremely proud of this event.”
The K-State Esports Club has roughly 100 members, according to Branson, and interest in esports is expanding across the country. The National Association of Collegiate Esports represents about 175 schools and universities across the country that offer varsity esports programs with scholarships and coaches. The esports sector has risen in recent years, with a global viewership of around 470 million people and yearly esports competition profits exceeding $1 billion.
The first in-person Rocket League tournament on campus, according to Mithulan Paramanathan of the KSU Esports Club, will “immediately legitimize esports and demonstrate a developing entertainment business.”
“I think this is a terrific point to be at because now we know exactly how we’re going to do it the next time we host this event and what additional aspects we need to improve on,” Paramanathan added.
The live Twitch streamed had over 40 viewers at its peak, while roughly a dozen people attended the competition in person in Forum Hall. The KSU Esports Club was founded in July of 2018 and has a Rocket League team as well as teams for Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, League of Legends, and Overwatch. At the end of the tournament, the Rocket League team played a handful of exhibition rounds to show off their skills.
Jacob Holloran, a junior kinesiology major, was a member of the tournament-winning “Getting Carried” trio of players. Holloran said he’s been playing Rocket League since it was first released in 2016, and his squad wasn’t expecting to do so well.
“We kind of did this on the spur of the moment,” Holloran remarked. “My friend and I play a lot, but this is the first time we’ve done anything like this.”
Holloran’s team, which included colleagues Corey Bowen and Seth Thompson, finished 8-0 in the event, sweeping the field. “Just hard work,” he said, is the key to winning a tournament.
Holloran stated that he will participate in future events. The esports club is preparing another event for the spring semester, as well as one over Christmas break, according to Branson. He also stated that the organization intends to open competitions to the entire Manhattan neighborhood in order to increase participation.
The K-State Student Union Program Council and the K-State Collegian were also sponsors for the event. The number of people “who stood forward to pull so evenly together on the rope,” according to Wildcat 91.9 FM advisor and journalism professor Ian Punnett, was the most exciting part of the tournament.
