College esports have a new organization.
The National Association of Collegiate Esports (NAC) launched last week to provide structure and legitimacy to esports programs officially recognized by their universities. It encourages members to create scholarship and varsity programs. Esports is a growing market that is worth $892 million, and it is especially popular with college-aged gamers. Programs like this can give prospective professional players a chance to improve their gaming skills and meet like-minded friends.
[aditude-amp id="flyingcarpet" targeting='{"env":"staging","page_type":"article","post_id":2048241,"post_type":"story","post_chan":"none","tags":null,"ai":false,"category":"none","all_categories":"esports,games,pc-gaming,","session":"C"}']The NAC has 20 members, including Columbia College, Robert Morris University, and Miami University (Ohio).
“NAC esports is a member driven association that focuses on developing esports programs from the institutional level,” said Michael Brooks, NAC esports administrator, in a press release sent to GamesBeat. “We want to further expand the ecosystem by providing a home for existing varsity programs, while also acting as a resource for club teams wanting to move to varsity or for institutions that want to start a team.”
The NAC will have its first Esports Invitational in Spring 2017. The 2017-2018 season will then have its own regular and postseason events.