Worcester Business Journal

14 Worcester Business Journal | December 10, 2018 | wbjournal.com F O C U S T H E B U S I N E S S O F S P O R T S Managing the digital athlete Becker College is becoming a leader in the $1B esports industry BY GRANT WELKER Worcester Business Journal News Editor F irst, Becker College made a name for itself with a nationally renown video game design program, putting the small Worcester school near the top of a Princeton Review list along with the University of Southern California and New York University. Now, Becker is parlaying the success of that program with another propelling the college to the forefront of a burgeoning video game realm: Esports – multiplayer video games played in front of an audience just like their on- field counterparts or streamed online. Next fall, Becker will officially begin its esports management program, which the school says is the first of its kind in the country. "How many people in their lifetime get to do something that's the first of its kind in the United States?" said Alan Ritacco, the dean of Becker's School of Design and Technology, of which the esports management program is a part. "We're experts at this. is is what we do." Money to be made, and eyes watching It's not hard to see why Becker is looking to jump on a new but fast- growing industry. Global esports revenues were projected by Dutch industry researcher Newzoo to reach $906 million in 2018, for 38-percent growth in just one year. Esports' audience was projected to reach 380 million this year, for 13-percent annual growth. Newzoo has projected revenue to surpass $1.6 billion by 2021. Serious money is behind esports, too. Newzoo estimated $59 million in ticket revenue for esports events last year, nearly doubling the previous year's total, and that prize money last year hit $112 million. "As a business, esports is now entering a new and critical phase toward maturity," Newzoo CEO Peter Warman said. "Big investments have been made, new league structures have been launched, sponsorship budgets have moved from experimental to continuous, and international media rights trade is starting to heat up." Some well-known names are getting behind esports, as well. Patriots owner Robert Kra brought a multiplayer sports team to Boston last year in a league with 12 teams in cities in the United States and Asia competing in a game called Overwatch, where armed teams compete on a battleground. Owners of the New York Mets, Milwaukee Bucks and Cleveland Cavaliers have made their own investments in teams. In October, Forbes valued one esports Becker College is among a growing number of colleges with varsity programs in esports, where students compete not on the field but in online video games. "How many people in their lifetime get to do something that's the first of its kind in the United States?" Alan Ritacco, Dean of School of Design and Technology, Becker College

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