Following college basketball’s largest annual event, March Madness, the collegiate esports world will get its time to shine a few months later with its version of May madness.
College Park will be the host city for the inaugural Collegiate Esports Commissioners Cup (CECC), a multi-game event for esports athletes from across the country. It will take place May 6-8 at Gateway Center Arena.
The CECC was originally the Collegiate Esports National Championship in 2021 before its rebrand. The finals were held virtually, making this year’s national championship the first of its kind. Last year saw over 300 players and 64 esports teams participate.
This year’s event will be a partnership between the Atlanta Hawks, the College Park Skyhawks, the Hawks’ NBA G League affiliate, Atlanta-based Esports company Skillshot Media, the Atlanta Esports Alliance and the Collegiate Sports Management Group (CSMG), a national integrated sports and entertainment media company. CSMG’s esports arm, ESPORTSU will be the host.
Why Atlanta: CSMG chose College Park for the inaugural event because of how quickly metro Atlanta has emerged as one of the top esports markets in the country, according to ESPORTSU Executive Vice President Angela Bernhard Thomas.
«We wanted to go big for this event,» she told Atlanta Business Chronicle.
Atlanta was ranked first for gaming environment and fifth for both augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) jobs in a 2020 esports industry assessment report by Georgia Tech’s Enterprise Innovation Institute for the Georgia Department of Economic Development.
State infrastructure is helping the industry grow in the area. The Georgia High School Association recognizes esports as an official sport and Georgia Tech is one of several colleges and universities with an established esports program in the state. Atlanta having so many colleges that participate in esports was another incentive to have the first CECC at Gateway Arena, Bernhard Thomas said.
Having the Atlanta Hawks and College Park Skyhawks involved also attaches the city’s professional teams to the event, giving it a certain level of cache.
«We knew we needed to find the right partners to take it to the next level,» said Bernhard Thomas. «The support from the Hawks, Skyhawks, Atlanta Esports Alliance and Skillshot Media has been incredible.»
Atlanta Hawks Executive Vice President & Chief Revenue Officer Andrew Saltzman said the city continues to prove itself as a hub for esports. «We believe that this three-day showcase will provide the next generation of esports competitors many opportunities beyond the virtual playing field,» he said.
A league of their own: The CECC will be the largest ever in-person collegiate esports event, much larger than last year’s event which was totally virtual.is expected to be a combination tournament and celebration of the fast-growing sport. And it’s right on time, according to industry insiders.
«After two years of virtual events, the collegiate community deserves an in-person, over-the-top, arena celebration,» said Todd Harris, CEO and co-founder of Skillshot and CEO Ghost Gaming, in a statement. Harris recently established a new gaming platform Resurgens Gaming, that will be headquartered at Uptown Atlanta.
«Atlanta is home to many colleges and universities, as well as several gaming hubs,» said Saltzman.
The event will feature hundreds of collegiate esports athletes from four-year and two-year institutions throughout the country. They will earn their spots in the festival by winning regional tournaments. Bernhard Thomas believes the sport, already fast-growing, will grow even more because of the CECC.
«We consider the CECC a huge step forward to unite the collegiate esports landsacpe,» she said.
How to watch: The CECC will be streamed online via the EsportsU Twitch channel and ESTV, an esports live online channel.
Atlanta Business Chronicle and SHRM-Atlanta are excited to announce the fourth annual HR Excellence Awards! Honor HR professionals and teams who have achieved new heights through talent management, employee engagement, technological advances and who lead through transformational change.
© 2022 American City Business Journals. All rights reserved. Use of and/or registration on any portion of this site constitutes acceptance of our User Agreement (updated 1/1/21) and Privacy Policy and Cookie Statement (updated 7/20/21). The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of American City Business Journals.
