While professional esports are a multi-billion dollar industry, at the colligate level large tournament leagues have remained largely fragmented.
Looking to change that is Level Next, a new intercollegiate esports league centered around the game Madden NFL created out of a multi-year partnership between video game giant Electronic Arts and Plano-based Learfield IMG College, a collegiate athletics-focused media and technology company.
Unlike established esports teams found at campuses like UT Dallas and UT Arlington, Level Next teams of three to four people can be made up of any students looking to represent their schools. And there’s a number of competitors, with more than 2,500 schools in the league.
“While other college esports competitions focus solely on club or varsity esports programs, Level Next is open to the everyday gamer…anyone who is a current student and wants to compete,” a spokesperson for Learfield IMG College told NTX Inno via email. “Between our vast access to rights, resources and scale, we are able to create opportunities that are always free and open to every student in our effort to grow, diversify, and most of all, support the college esports community.”
To kick off the launch of the league, Next Level is hosting its first Fall Championship Series with EA-created Madden NFL 21. Registrations are open now. The tournament begins Nov. 9. A spokesperson for Learfield IMG College said they decided to start with a football game, due to the pandemic’s impact on the sport nationwide. For the tournament, at least 129 university teams will be selected to compete. Up for grabs is a prize pool of $150,000.
“We felt there was a void that we could fill for sports fans. More importantly, esports titles are primarily PC-focused and so in order to reach a new audience and truly allow more casual gamers, who are typically console players, Madden just felt like a natural fit,” the spokesperson said.
As the league grows, Next Level plans to have multiple seasons each year. It also plans to add other sports and non-athletic video game titles to compete in. It plans to broadcast games via Twitch and through Learfield IMG College’s own broadcast network.
Learfield IMG College said that it hopes the partnership will help establish a more unified esports ecosystem at the college level. And beyond cash prizes, players have other potential benefits. As Esports Insider notes, video game publishers like EA benefit from the attention star players bring to their games and it’s not surprising a company like that would look to deepen its ties to an emerging talent pipeline.
"Collegiate esports is here and here to stay,” the Learfield IMG College spokesperson said. “The industry has been extremely fragmented and we hope to create opportunities that are seamless, open and exciting.”
The partnership between Learfield IMG College, which was formed from the 2018 $2 billion merger between Learfield and IMG College, and EA also deepens North Texas’ ties to the esports ecosystem. The region is home to local teams Complexity Gaming and Envy Gaming, as well as to an esports arena and a number of video game developers. The scene’s density has also attracted startups operating in the esports industry like St. Louis’ Mission Control to establish roots and place leadership members in the area.
“Esports has kind of its second or third home in Dallas, depending on who you ask,” Daniel Herz, Mission Control CRO, told Inno in April, after partnering with a number of local universities. “There’s clearly a mass growing population… who have a hobby and an interest in esports.”
