The University of Utah is set to become the first big sports school to offer scholarships for competitive video gaming, more commonly referred to as ‘eSports.’
Though it’s not the first state school to offer eSports scholarships — the University of California at Irvine beat it to the punch — it is the first in the “Power Five,” thats the five wealthiest athletic conferences in college sport, to commit to such a program.
As reported by Bloomberg, Utah’s first eSports team will try its hand at League of Legends, and will compete in developer Riot’s fledgling collegiate league, which was unveiled in May last year.
Funding for the new initiative will come from Utah’s Entertainment Arts & Engineering department, although there’s no word on how big the initial investment will be.
Those who manage to secure a scholarship will all receive partial funding at first, although it’s hoped that marketing and sponsorship deals will allow the University to offer full scholarships in the long-term.