By William Rogers

Esports in the United States has grown exponentially throughout the past few years due to overwhelming support from both players and companies. In 2018, SUNY Canton opened its own esports arena to host both its competitive teams as well as broadcast its events. With the opening of the arena, SUNY Canton was put on a pedestal as the top esports focused campus in the SUNY system.

Here at SUNY Oswego, the Oswego Esports Association has seen a fairly large increase in new members due to a new found focus on online and digital spaces. However, the issue of maintaining interest and hosting events has been pushed into a more prominent spotlight. The majority of the issue derives from the fact that funding has seen a major decrease in recent times. In the past, the Esports Association would give out prizes for tournaments as well as serve food at events. Last semester the organization hosted weekly Super Smash Bros. Ultimate tournaments, with one major tournament offering free food and giving away prizes. The ability to give away prizes came with a partnership with Campus Recreation, separate from the funding given to the club through the Student Association as the club’s budget was severely cut from previous years.

From a competitive standpoint the Oswego Esports Association currently hosts teams for League of Legends, Rocket League, Overwatch and Super Smash Brother Ultimate. In the past the organization has also hosted Rainbow Six, Hearthstone and Call of Duty teams, and looks to add Valorant and Fortnite teams in the future. These teams compete with other schools through organizations such as National Esports Collegiate Conference (NECC), SUNY Esports, and College League of Legends. In the Spring 2021 season, the Rainbow Six team finished second in the NECC Challengers division. The Rocket League team placed third in the NECC Emergents East division of the spring 2021 season, fifth in the NECC Emergents White division of the fall 2021 season and second this last season in the NECC Navigators Yellow division. Last fall the newly formed Splitgate team rose up the ranks and finished second in the SUNY Esports tournament.

Many members including former Oswego Esports Rocket League Coordinator Thomas Bullock believe that the teams could go further and win conferences if the teams had the facilities to host practices and stream events. 

“I think a dedicated esports facility would help teams perform better because it would give them access to better hardware,” Bullock said. “If the college investe  in some gaming equipment for teams to use and practice on, then I think that teams would perform better, as well as other people being more inclined to join the esports scene with the access to equipment.”

With the recent groundbreaking of the Hewitt renovations many have suggested the addition of an Esports dedicated room or facility as part of the renovations. Placing such a facility within reach of the broadcasting department would also allow the addition of esports related classes within the broadcasting curriculum.

Shane Rosales, President of the Oswego Esports Association believes that with the right support SUNY Oswego could become the next big Esports focused SUNY campus. 

“Esports on the SUNY Oswego campus has a lot of potential.” Rosales said. “As a staff member for the esport club I have seen it first hand. However over the past couple years we have been seeing a declining amount of support from our school. While our club has luckily adapted to these changes, we would like to see more support from our school in the form of a more appropriate budget and designated facilities for our multiple Esports teams. It is evident from other schools with bigger esports departments that the right support can benefit both the students and faculty of SUNY Oswego.”

William Rogers | The Oswegonian