For most people, video games are a pastime, a way to socialize with friends in-person or online. For others, gaming is a competitive sport, requiring training and immense skill. With its new Esports arena, Bow Valley College is appealing to both sides of the growing gaming community.
This arena is designed specifically to appeal to people across the college community, said Eddie Sargent, the college’s associate dean of the school of business
“We have a really advanced technologically speaking broadcast booth in that space as well, and it’s now bigger than what we need for the program in the sense that it can accommodate folks from across the entire college who want to participate in Esports,” said Sargent.
“So we have open play time each day. We have gaming consoles and gaming computers and driving simulators for about 70 people to use in the space if it is really occupied.”
Systems available for play include:
- 30 PC Stations for open play
- 2 Streaming Rooms
- 6 PS5s – with adaptive controllers
- 6 XBOX Xs – with adaptive controllers
- 6 Nintendo Switches
- 2 Racing Sims
- Varsity Training Room
The facility features a large viewing area that can acomadate as many as 150 people . Along with the viewing space within the arena, there is a connected glass wall that could allow as many as 300 students in the Marketplace, Bow Valley College’s food court area to watch on as well.
For the students to get involved in the Esports culture some classes attribute to an overall diploma.
“The way that you can do it academically is through the E-sports Business Management Program. It’s a two-year diploma program. It’s fully accredited by advanced education, which makes it fairly unique in Alberta,” said Sargent.
As a business, Esports are growing quickly, which is why the college saw it as a natural place to invest.
“A current valuation of Esports globally, which is about $1.1 billion that was in 2020, but what’s really interesting about that is that it’s experiencing 15.7 per cent year over year growth,” said Sargent.
“There are many times more fans that are Esports fans than hockey fans and then when we look at the year over year growth, it’s something that I think is really important that we try and invest in as a city because if we don’t do that work this opportunity could pass us by.”
In 2024/25, students can try-out for school Esports teams in:
- Rocket League
- Valorant
- Overwatch 2
- Super Smash Bros. Ultimate (Crews)
- League of Legends
- Fortnite
- Single Player Games
To promote this work, Sargent and the team were able to secure a $5.5 million grant from the Opportunity Calgary Investment Fund.
“We’ll be directly investing in Esports startups to help them form a company and we’ll be taking in up to 10 teams each year as part of that Esports accelerator for the next five years,” said Sargent.
As the future of Esports continues to grow and become successful in growing the audience as well as players that join the space, the hope for Calgary is to remain at the forefront of making the city a leader in the field.
“We’re making a real plea to situate Calgary as a leader in Esports because it is such a thriving industry and we want to be part of that success.”