UPDATED: Jan. 15, 2020 at 5:18 p.m.

Last March, Lauren Wiener was in Boston for PAX East — a gaming and pin-trading convention — and saw something unexpected. 

She was watching the official Super Smash Bros. and Splatoon tournaments when she overheard a little girl — wearing a Splatoon t-shirt and decked out in Splatoon temporary tattoos — chatting with her father. The girl was trying to tell her dad about the game and explain what the players were doing. Fairly new to the gaming universe, her father nodded along with every word. 

It gave Wiener hope about the future of esports. Not only was the little girl excited about the games, she said, but her father was encouraging her interest. 

“This was the first time I really got to see just how far esports can go,” Wiener said. “It showed that esports isn’t just something evolving on an organizational scale but is effectively reaching the hearts of literally every generation.” 

Esports have been an important part of Wiener’s life since she started playing them at 18. Her family was always aware of the latest trends in technology, and she never gravitated toward a traditional. But at Syracuse, Wiener, a senior, has begun a local movement that mirrors a global one: creating SU’s esports club.

“It was mostly working backwards,” Wiener said. “I’m lucky that I have a lot of friends who are interested in all the different corners of esports, and so my college experience has mainly been my time to go back, understanding what makes each particular esport so great and get into those games or scenes myself.”

According to Business Insider, the esports industry is on track to surpass $1.5 billion by 2023.  Over 100 million people watched 2019’s League of Legends Championship, more than last year’s Super Bowl. The increasing popularity has also reached college campuses, where some schools offer scholarships to gamers, working to create varsity teams and chaptering clubs.  

This year, Syracuse’s esports team joined the Eastern College Athletic Conference, becoming one of 57 schools offering esports at the college level. The move follows the addition of a new gaming room in The Barnes Center at the Arch and may not have happened without Weiner, who created the esports at Syracuse University Club which houses the teams that compete in the ECAC.   

One of the reasons Wiener started the club was to try to eradicate stereotypes surrounding the industry. When she originally developed the student organization, Wiener said, she wanted to provide a space for some students to feel comfortable expressing their passion for esports and others to discover and familiarize themselves with it. The club now has over 600 members that compete on several different teams focusing on different games, from Overwatch to Fortnite.  

Vitoria Poejo | Contributing Photographer

Despite its growth in popularity, the esports industry is often looked down upon, Wiener said, adding that she considers it her responsibility to help change that narrative.  

“Gaming has been such an invisible community,” Wiener said, “One that until (recent) years could only really exist behind a solitary screen and one marked largely as a ‘nerd’ interest.” 

Parker Klebhan, who manages SU’s Counter Strike team, explained one reason people discount esports is a lack of understanding. Because the phenomenon is so new — both at SU and across the country — he said, there are some misconceptions, and people tend to think it’s simply playing video games. 

Esports is much more than that though, Klebhan said. It’s a lot like traditional sports in its competitive nature and the team concepts it employs, he said, especially considering the tournaments involved and the team practices leading up to those tournaments. 

Wiener said gaming is also similar to traditional sports in the sense that it can be an escape for people who are having tough times in their personal lives. Still, societal acceptance has lagged behind the sport’s rise, and Wiener said it can be challenging to make esports mainstream on campus.   

“There will always be people who mock you for attempting to pursue what you’re interested in,” Wiener said. “You just can’t pay them any mind.” 

Gaming unites people in a unique way, added esports club Vice President Trent Pitoniak. The combination of sports and social media allows people from different parts of the world to work together for a common goal.  

Pitoniak said it’s comforting to be able to play a game knowing that your teammate — or opponent — has the same interests as you, because often times, esports is a passion people don’t understand. Gamers can make friends from across the globe, but at SU — where teammates laud Weiner’s benevolence, compassion and leadership — that’s not necessary.  

“What we are trying to build is something more than others’ outdated opinions,” Wiener said. “No, gaming isn’t 100% roses, but esports is a thriving industry and gaming is here to stay as a cultural root for millions of people around the world.”

CORRECTION: In a previous version of this post, Lauren Wiener’s name was misspelled. The Daily Orange regrets this error.

Published on January 14, 2020 at 11:04 pm

gfpagano@syr.edu