Esports: Manage Risk Implications to Protect Your Institution & Your Gamers – On-Demand Training

Esports is already changing today’s campus landscape, and is poised to have an even greater influence on tomorrow’s. The surging popularity of competitive gaming is striking. Growth curves have been consistently trending steeply positive and have been supercharged by the pandemic’s habit-changing effects as people, communities, institutions, and corporations around the world explore, adopt, and embed games into their lives, cultures, and business models. So, what is at stake? What are the pitfalls? Where should your focus be?

Explore the world of competitive collegiate esports and gain the tools you need to start, run and/or maintain a successful esports program on your campus with risk management considerations at the forefront.

Esports is much more than students sitting around playing video games — it’s a vast frontier in collegiate athletics that allows students to connect locally, nationally and globally. Overcome hesitation and confusion surrounding esports to ensure you are protecting your institution and your students as you tap into this recruitment and retention tool.

Topics Covered

As a result of this webinar, you will take away the ability to:

• Handle concerns head on — overcome gaming cultural concerns such as controversies, online safety, disorders, regulation and censorship.
• Alleviate institutional roadblocks to developing a successful esports program — ensure the newness, inexperience, discomfort, cost, and infrastructure does not prevent your program from getting off the ground.
• Provide solutions and viable options to address brand risk such as identity use, game content, gambling, cheating and toxicity — make sure your students are safe and your institution is guarded against legal ramifications.
• Outline the potential compliance issues esports can pose to your institution — safeguard your students’ eligibility, academic/athletic scholarships, address title IX considerations, establish ownership and who receives the tournament winnings to avoid conflict and misunderstanding.
• Communicate challenges with internal training and education, alumni messaging and community engagement — gain buy-in to overcome hesitation and confusion surrounding esports so you can successfully use your program as a recruitment and retention tool.
• Provide the necessary organizational resources to build and maintain a successful program — ensure staffing, planning, budgeting, marketing and wellness considerations are funded and supported appropriately.

Presenter

Timothy Loew is the Executive Director of the Massachusetts Digital Games Institute.
Click here for full bio.