The Bronzeville Esports League will expand access to esports on the South and West Sides of Chicago. Its main priority will be to bring esports to schools and community organizations that do not have existing esports teams or programs. The audience that the league is looking to serve is students and amateurs who play or want to play competitively a few times a year. It will also work to build a community around watching esports, collegiate esports, and in bringing visibility to esports-related professions for high school and middle school students from Bronzeville.
The league will include programs for the following student levels:
- Sixth through eighth grades, which will include events such as single-day tournaments; hands-on education related to video editing, game design, streaming, and content creation; guest speakers involved in the esports industry; and a basic introduction to professions connected to the esports industry
- High school students (ages 14–19), which will include two seasons per year and support for four esports games; hands-on education related to video editing, game design, patronage, streaming, and content creation; guest speakers involved in the esports industry; a basic introduction to the professions connected to the esports industry; and an introduction to universities with esports scholarships for college
The league will also host family events for all ages that are designed to give students and their families the opportunity to come together to play games, watch games, and learn more about the gaming community and esports. Additionally, the league will also provide opportunities during these events to learn more about game design and the software platforms that are used to create games.
Operating as a branch of the Illinois Tech Esports and Digital Arts Center, the league will leverage the expertise and resources from SMASH Interactive—developers of the forthcoming Surge esports facility—and Illinois Tech Esports to create opportunities for the students in the Bronzeville community to participate in esports and learn about professions related to the esports ecosystem. Below are a few examples of the many different professions connected to the esports ecosystem:
- Content Creators: shoutcasters, streamers, software developers, writers, bloggers, video editors, social media experts, artists, animators, storytellers, filmmakers, and game designers
- Entrepreneurs: technical support/networking, web development, business development, and corporate partners and agents developing sponsorship agreements
- Organizers: administrators, event planners, marketers, publicists, and brand managers
- Strategists: coaches, analysts, managers, and mental and physical health professionals
Additionally, there are career opportunities for those who assist players, including accountants, lawyers, financial planners, publicists, managers, and trainers.
Providing opportunities to learn and participate in esports will open career options in an area that only continues to grow. According to Newzoo’s Global Esports and Live Streaming Market Report 2021, global esports revenues will grow to $1.084 billion in 2021, a one-year growth of 14.5 percent. The global live-streaming audience is projected to hit nearly 730 million views in 2021, and the total esports audience is projected to grow to nearly 475 million people in 2021.