CLEVELAND – New Cleveland State Esports coach PJ Farrell and senior associate athletic director for business, facilities and operations Matt Oberlin joined Stephanie Garcia Cichosz of D1Ticker and Collegiate Sports Connect to introduce the brand-new CSU Esports program.
Learn all about the new varsity program being introduced for Vikings Athletics. Oberlin and Farrell go deep into the nuances of starting an Esports program from the ground up, including plans for future facilities and how recruiting works, the decision behind embedding Esports into the Vikings athletic offerings, and much more!
00:00 – Introduction
00:38 – What were some of the initial conversations that took place when you were deciding to bring Esports into the CSU Athletics department?
01:32 – Why did CSU Athletics decide to «own» this Esports program?
02:56 – What was the process behind finding a Director for this program?
04:32 – How did you select the games to start competing in as this program launches?
05:55 – What does a season look like? Is there travel involved? What is the ideal roster size?
07:25 – What does recruiting look like for an Esports team?
09:08 – Are there any restrictions on recruiting – times of the year when you can contact athletes, the grade an athlete must be in for you to reach out to them?
11:06 – What do scholarships look like in Esports? What will sport oversight be for this program? How will Esports contribute to the overall metrics that CSU Athletics evaluates itself by?
13:53 – How will this program impact the long-term facilities plan for CSU?
15:26 – Would any new facility be entirely owned by CSU Athletics or would it be constructed in partnership with campus?
16:28 – What is the future relationship with the Esports team for the Cleveland Cavaliers?
17:52 – What is the most misunderstood thing about Esports, especially among college administrators?
19:04 – Where does this program fall in CSU’s long-term competitive strategy? Where does it fit in the overall program portfolio?
21:10 – What are the near-term goals for this program?
22:59 – Long-term… who should ultimately «own» Esports?
GET IN THE GAME: FOLLOW CSU ESPORTS ON SOCIAL
– Cleveland State Esports Discord Channel: https://bit.ly/3P9Yf19
– Cleveland State Esports on Twitch: https://bit.ly/3P9ZEVt
– Cleveland State Esports on Twitter (@CSUVikes_GG): https://bit.ly/3P9ZgpZ
– Cleveland State Esports on Instagram (@csuvikes_gg): https://bit.ly/3kVyIuu
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