Blizzard and TeSPA have announce a new program to help support collegiate esports.
New Rewards and Incentives Help to Support College Gaming Groups at the Grassroots Level
Irvine, CA – February 6, 2014 – TeSPA and Blizzard Entertainment today announced a partnership that will bring unprecedented support to college gaming groups throughout North America. For the first time, college gaming groups will be able to unlock funding and other tangible benefits as their communities grow through the Membership Milestone program.
As part of the partnership, Blizzard will back student groups in the TeSPA network by guaranteeing event funding, unique in-game rewards, and unrivaled promotion opportunities to active TeSPA chapters. This backing will help chapters strengthen their communities by providing vital resources needed to host local gaming competitions and viewing events.
“TeSPA has been a positive force in the eSports community built from the ground up by a small group of dedicated fans,” said Mike Morhaime, CEO and cofounder of Blizzard Entertainment. “By partnering with TeSPA we hope to give back to the players in a very new way to add fuel to an already thriving collegiate scene.”
The Membership Milestone program outlines structured benefits to student groups and provides critical materials needed to scale, including free access production equipment for events, a leadership and technical instruction manual, and customized banners for campus advertisement. The new program aims to establish the foundation of a vibrant eSports ecosystem that is supported from both the grassroots and professional level.
“Our goal is to empower passionate students to bring their eSports dreams to life,” said TeSPA co-founder Adam Rosen. “By doing this, we hope to cultivate thriving eSports communities while fostering the next generation of entrepreneurial business leaders in the gaming industry.” TeSPA aims to establish campus chapters across all of North America, and is specifically targeting 75 of the most influential campuses to seed student gaming programs on in 2014.
Cool! As a follower of the CSL (and someone who is on the fence about joining my school's team) any influx of support for the collegiate esports community is good news in my book
This came a bit late, but better late than never I guess. Kudos to Blizzard and TeSPA. Hearthstone and HotS are still fresh (HotS can potentially get very big once the beta gets released) and so there is still ample time for this program to grow the scene.
Ooooooooo Texas, not Taiwan. I thought it was Taiwan at first lol. Looks like Blizzard is putting in the effort to make SC2 revert back to it's original popularity among college students (and general public).
On February 07 2014 07:49 NeThZOR wrote: (HotS can potentially get very big once the beta gets released) and so there is still ample time for this program to grow the scene.
Wow those milestones are fantastic. Like fucking amazingly fantastic. Let's see:
-1-2 equipment rentals a year on blizz/tespa's tab -small cash sponsorships for events -use of a partnered twitch stream -all sorts of promotional tools for your club -guaranteed Skype interview with esports celeb of your choice, cap out at 300 members to fly them out to your school for an event
And just think, EVERY SCHOOL gets to do this if they can get all the members. I did notice they expect $10/yr per student affiliated, that's pretty standard in collegiate clubs no? Even still, this infrastructure is GODLIKE. If you are out there in college and like sc2 and have the spark of ambition in your heart, now is your time.
On February 07 2014 07:49 NeThZOR wrote: (HotS can potentially get very big once the beta gets released) and so there is still ample time for this program to grow the scene.
On February 07 2014 07:49 NeThZOR wrote: (HotS can potentially get very big once the beta gets released) and so there is still ample time for this program to grow the scene.
On February 07 2014 07:49 NeThZOR wrote: (HotS can potentially get very big once the beta gets released) and so there is still ample time for this program to grow the scene.
??
Heroes of the storm
Please never refer to Heroes of the Storm as HotS, there is already a HotS and this will only add confusion. HoS or HS or something like that could make do for now, until LotV releases I guess, but it would still be pretty damn confusing. Not sure why they decided to rename their game with the same acronym as a game that is already released but then again, it is Blizzard.
Great! You really have to build the community from ground up to keep it healthy. This should boost the (casual) player base and spectator numbers. I wish there will be similar program for high schools some day. Starting at college age might be too late for a pro-career(, but that's propably not the goal here).
Now THIS is something to get excited about!! Makes me happy that Blizzard and TeSPA are reaching out to help support and grow a pretty sweet part of e-Sports. Hearing Suppy talk about Starcraft at his college always sounded pretty cool, and to think that a lot of schools are going to be able to grow their scene just sound phenomenal. Now I kind of can't wait to go to college in a year in a half haha! Props to Blizzard and TeSPA!
On February 07 2014 07:49 NeThZOR wrote: (HotS can potentially get very big once the beta gets released) and so there is still ample time for this program to grow the scene.
??
Heroes of the storm
Please never refer to Heroes of the Storm as HotS, there is already a HotS and this will only add confusion. HoS or HS or something like that could make do for now, until LotV releases I guess, but it would still be pretty damn confusing. Not sure why they decided to rename their game with the same acronym as a game that is already released but then again, it is Blizzard.
I think Blizz said they want it to be called "Heroes".
Back on topic, can someone please explain to me how TeSPA is related to the CSL, and what this news means for the CSL?
On February 07 2014 07:49 NeThZOR wrote: (HotS can potentially get very big once the beta gets released) and so there is still ample time for this program to grow the scene.
??
Heroes of the storm
Please never refer to Heroes of the Storm as HotS, there is already a HotS and this will only add confusion. HoS or HS or something like that could make do for now, until LotV releases I guess, but it would still be pretty damn confusing. Not sure why they decided to rename their game with the same acronym as a game that is already released but then again, it is Blizzard.
There's already a HS too, it's called Hearthstone.
Also this was a little confusing to read, I thought TeSPA would be the Taiwanese eSports Association. ;s
On February 07 2014 07:49 NeThZOR wrote: This came a bit late, but better late than never I guess. Kudos to Blizzard and TeSPA. Hearthstone and HotS are still fresh (HotS can potentially get very big once the beta gets released) and so there is still ample time for this program to grow the scene.
It's too late for SC2. A lot of SC2 clubs are dead already. This would have been great in 2011.
EPT
