Varsity esports programs have been appearing across the nation. The University of Utah recently became the first Power Five school with a varsity program following early adopters like University of California Irvine (UCI) and Robert Morris University Illinois (RMU) in that space.
Riot Games is the studio behind wildly successful esport League of Legends, and helping more schools attain varsity programs is one of its key focuses.
“We want to share our esports knowledge, best practices, and pave the way for more schools to follow in the footsteps of the RMUs and UCIs of the world,” said J.T. Vandenbree, Riot Games’ lead for League Operations for North American Collegiate. “That includes building play spaces, hiring support staff, dedicating scholarships, and treating College League of Legends like schools treat existing sports.”
Riot Games recently announced a revamping of its collegiate league. The studio hopes the new format will increase competition and push more schools towards the path of varsity programs.
The 2018 College League of Legends Season will feature a Swiss format culminating in regional playoffs with spots in the College Championship on the line. This is a departure from the previous round robin format. Vandenbree believes this season will be “the most competitive ever.”
The community largely drove the changes in this season. Vandenbree spent the offseason talking with students, team managers, administrators and athletic directors. “We had a variety of conversations to determine what the player experience is like,” he said. “We want to know what they needed, and what they aren’t getting right now.”
A common piece of feedback was the skill disparity. With the round-robin format, many regular season games were lopsided. This posed a problem as the lower-tier teams wouldn’t stand a chance while the upper-tier teams missed out on valuable practice before playoffs.
With the Swiss format, teams with equal win-loss records match up against each other. This means that the best teams will have to battle the toughest competition to make it to the Regional Championships. In addition, the lower-tier teams, made up of high gold to low platinum level players, will not have to meet up with Master level powerhouses like the University of British Columbia or crosstown rival Simon Fraser in the regular season.
While many collegiate leagues in traditional sports operate as proving grounds for professionals, that is not a goal of College League of Legends.
“If you want to make money from League you need to go through the League Championship Series (LCS) or the Academy,” Vandenbree said. “As competition improves, we are going to see LCS teams look at top college teams as places to find new talent, but that is not our focus.”
The College Season does have a monetary prize, in the form of scholarships. They are awarded based on Conference Playoff finishes. Scholarships are awarded to six players and two staff members in each of the four conferences. To earn a place in the Conference Playoffs, teams must finish with a record of 6-0 or 5-1 in the regular season. Scholarships are awarded as shown in the table below.
It’s not just Riot Games offering scholarships, as many universities are offering esports scholarships to attract the best students. “Teams are constantly getting better, last year there were 11 programs offering scholarships for League, this year there are over 30,” Vandenbree said.
Another new addition to the coming season is the Teemo Cup. Named after League’s cutest champion, it provides a chance for teams that missed the playoffs to earn Riot Points — in-game currency — in a bracket setting.
“A common piece of feedback was that players want more games,” Vandenbree said. “We wanted to accommodate that, but not every student wants to make that commitment. We want the players to be students, first and foremost.”
Making sure academics come first is an area that Vandenbree highlighted as a future goal. As universities are protective of their students, receiving information about enrollment or GPA can be difficult. Riot Games is working with schools to receive that information and make sure all competitors are active students pursuing four-year degrees and in good academic standing.
The registration is still open for the 2018 collegiate season that begins Jan. 15. Each university is limited to only one team and the decision of which team represents the school follows a hierarchy.
Varsity or school-sponsored teams get first priority. If a school has only one club, the officers may choose the team. If there is more than one club, or the officers decide not to elect a team, the rules call for a best-of-five series to determine the official representative. You can search for your institution’s club on Riot Games’ website.