ATLANTA (October 3, 2022) — The Esports Summit conference, organized by Skillshot Media, has announced a broad set of corporate and non-profit event partners connected to the event November 17-18, 2022, at the Skillshot Media esports campus. In addition, a new ticket bundle has been released which gives access to the gaming lifestyle festival, and Summit partner, DreamHack Atlanta, taking place November 18-20, 2022, at the Georgia World Congress Center.
Esports Summit will connect global business leaders and educators across the esports ecosystem across the two-day event with the goal of connecting play with learning. The conference event is followed by the three-day, immersive, gaming lifestyle festival DreamHack Atlanta.
CDW and Acer have been named Presenting Partners of Esports Summit 2022, supporting the conference theme of esports in education.
“Esports in education drives incredible opportunities for both access and equity for students. We are excited to continue our support for the students and the esports ecosystem by serving as the presenting sponsor, along with Acer, of the 2022 Esports Summit. CDW’s dedicated esports team is passionate about guiding schools on their esports journeys, and inspired by what students learn and achieve through these programs,” said Joe Simone, Vice President of Education, CDW. “We look forward to this coming together of education and industry leaders to drive more impact for our students.”
Other select Esports Summit partners include: Twitch, DreamHack, North America Scholastic Esports Foundation (NASEF), AXR Edge, Cxmmunity, Ghost Gaming, the*gameHERs, UGC, Tadpole Communications, FitGMR, Futures First, Atlanta Esports Alliance, Georgia Department of Economic Development, Georgia Tech, and Georgia State University.
The conference will feature panel tracks and workshops related to both the business side of the gaming and esports industry and the world of scholastic esports education. Confirmed speakers include representatives from:
and more
Additional speaking opportunities are still available via a Call For Proposals, run by NASEF and the Georgia Tech Institute for People and Technology.
The Early Access individual ticket includes a two-day pass for Esports Summit and three 3-day passes to DreamHack Atlanta, which offers Esports Summit attendees the opportunity to bring guests to enjoy DreamHack Atlanta.
Esports Summit 2022 will be hosted by Skillshot Media at Uptown Atlanta. The 32,000 sq ft Atrium (pictured above) will be activated in addition to the 10,000 sq ft conference center, game room, esports production studio, and esports education classroom.
College students at the Skillshot esports analyst desk comment on the Georgia Esports League competition between rivals Georgia Tech and the University of Georgia in the game Rocket League.
Skillshot Media, a leading esports production company, and Ghost Gaming, the Atlanta-based professional esports and lifestyle organization, today announced a partnership with the Georgia Department of Economic Development, Georgia Film Academy, and founding partner universities across Georgia to launch the Georgia Esports League (GEL).
The league is the nation’s first comprehensive statewide initiative covering esports competition, curriculum, and workforce development to serve the videogame, esports, and digital entertainment industry.
The announcement comes at a time of increasing live esports event activity across the state. In May Skillshot, EsportsU, and the Collegiate Sports Management Group (CSMG) produced the Collegiate Esports Commissioner’s Cup (CECC), the largest ever national collegiate esports live event, at Gateway Arena in College Park Georgia which delivered a $1.7 million local economic impact. This October Riot Games will bring the Worlds 2022 League of Legends semifinals to State Farm Arena, and in November the global gaming festival Dreamhack returns to the Georgia World Congress Center with an expected attendance of over 40,000.
The Georgia Esports League, open to all 2-year and 4-year colleges in Georgia, will offer numerous titles starting with Rocket League, which is played across Georgia in middle school, and high school as a sanctioned varsity sport. It is also played at the collegiate and professional level. Atlanta-based Ghost Gaming has a top professional Rocket League team. The tournament platform provider and sponsor for the 2022-2023 season of Rocket League is UGC
“Esports is education,” said Todd Harris CEO of Skillshot Media and Ghost Gaming. “We’re excited to build out skill development that goes well beyond just playing games. Our partnerships in Georgia allow us to engage with students starting in middle school with STEAM exposure and social-emotional learning all the way through college competition to careers playing esports professionally, becoming a gaming creator on YouTube or Twitch, or working in the broader game and digital entertainment industry behind the scenes as a programmer, artist or designer.”
GEL Final matches will be produced and live-streamed by Skillshot out of their newly announced Atlanta esports campus, with students involved in every aspect of the production.
“Gaming and digital entertainment are key industry initiatives for Georgia,”, said Asante Bradford of the Department of Georgia Economic Development. “The Georgia Esports League will help attract college students across our state to this growing industry, so we can continue to fill the jobs posted by the many tech and digital media companies relocating to Georgia.”
Georgia has seen a host of gaming and tech companies announce major expansions in the last 12 months including a Microsoft corporate campus on 90 acres of land on the west side of Atlanta, Meta’s data-center expansion in Georgia valued at $42 billion, and Google’s 500,000 square-foot expansion in Midtown Atlanta. More broadly, the global corporate and VC investment into metaverse companies was over $120 billion in the first half of 2022 according to a McKinsey and Company report. The metaverse industry is projected to reach $5 Trillion by 2030, with a $108 - $125 billion impact specific to the videogame industry.
Georgia is leading this new digital entertainment economy, building off the success of the film industry, which saw a direct spend of $4 billion dollars in Georgia last year. A key partner for the newly announced Georgia Esports League is the Georgia Film Academy, which has already trained over 10,000 Georgians through 28 public universities and technical colleges.
“Building off our success in film, Georgia’s next workforce initiative is gaming, esports, and digital entertainment”, said Jeff Stepakoff, Executive Director of the Georgia Film Academy. “We are thrilled to partner with industry experts Skillshot Media and Ghost Gaming to build out the curriculum, deliver hands-on experiences with industry tools, and engage students via Georgia Esports League competition, events, and live-streaming. Georgia now has a full ecosystem around the world’s fastest evolving creative economy.”
The Collegiate Esports Commissioner’s Cup held on May 6-8, 2022 at the Gateway Center Arena created a $1.78 million economic impact on the Atlanta Airport District Convention and Visitors Bureau. The “May Madness” of college esports also supported 358 jobs and nearly 900 total hotel room nights for the region while welcoming more than 2,600 ticket holders.
Powered by CSMG, ESPORTSU, and Skillshot Media and presented by CDW and Microsoft, CECC was the largest and most inclusive (Division I, II and III schools and Junior Colleges participated) collegiate LAN event ever held. The festival welcomed 64 teams and 480 athletes and coaches who competed in Overwatch (the Overwatch Collegiate Esports Commissioners Cup), VALORANT, Rocket League and Super Smash Brothers Ultimate.
“CECC was driven by the collaboration among our diverse and inclusive partners in traditional sports, tech, gaming, non-profits and consumer brands. We are committed to shaping and scaling a sustainable framework for collegiate esports, and this event set a solid foundation for our student athletes, the fans and brand partners,” said Michael Schreck, CEO of Collegiate Sports Management Group.
CECC sponsorships and onsite activations included Atlanta Falcons, Atlanta FaZe, Atlanta Hawks, Atlanta Reign, Barbasol (who presented the CECC Smooth Skin Selection Show on May 3), College Park Skyhawks, CTRL – A Meal Replacement, Cxmmunity, Fanaply, Futures First Gaming, Generation Esports, Ghost Gaming, Hawks Talon GC, Init Esports, High School Esports League, HomeTown Ticketing, Init Esports, Leukemia and Lymphoma Society (LLS), McDonald’s, Neustreet, North America Scholastic Esports Federation, Oakley, PCGz, Skullz, the*gameHERS, U.S. Air Force and Zonebreakers. Fans also enjoyed a recruitment fair, cosplay costumes and local food trucks.
CECC kicked off on May 6 with the red carpet experience where student athletes received their personalized, commemorative CECC jerseys and then officially competed in the CECC tournaments on May 7-8. Atlanta Esports Alliance and AXR Edge hosted an Open House to welcome CECC and celebrate the gaming community in the region.
“Atlanta was honored to host this inaugural national collegiate esports event that employed more than 350 people and unlocked over $1 million in direct economic impact”, said Todd Harris, Chair of the Atlanta Esports Alliance. “Events like the Collegiate Esports Commissioner’s Cup, and the enthusiastic support of so many local partners from both inside and outside the gaming industry, continue to advance Atlanta’s reputation as the esports capital.”
CECC crowned Bay State College (Boston) in Super Smash Brothers Ultimate, Illinois State University in Overwatch®, Northwood University (Midland, MI) in Rocket League and San Jose State University in VALORANT.
About CSMG
CSMG is an integrated sports and entertainment media company focused on esports and traditional sports in the new creator economy. We are an experienced, trusted results-driven team with a lens on what’s next. The focus of our business verticals – CSMG and ESPORTSU – is rooted in intellectual property rights management, acquisition, and development through media rights, Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL), valuation services, licensing, and sponsorship sales. We offer expertise in developing communities through brand building, original content, and event production & management. We drive our partners’ success at the crossroads of tech, sports, entertainment, and video games. To learn more, visit us at https://collegiatesmg.com/.
About Skillshot Media
Skillshot connects leading brands to engaged gaming fans while delivering positive social impact. We provide a turnkey esports solution for leading competitive titles, including online and offline tournament organization, industry-leading esports production, active community management and authentic brand integration and consulting for partners. Skillshot has more than five years of deep esports experience – hosting thousands of global competitors, paying out millions in tournament prizing and serving more than one billion esports views to date. www.skillshot.com.
The two independent companies have merged under an Atlanta ownership group but will continue to operate under their existing and separate brands.
Together, as Resurgens Gaming, the companies seek to provide a turnkey solution for partners wanting to leverage gaming and gaming media to authentically reach and support the passionate Millennial and Gen-Z audience across the Southeast.
Experienced Industry Leadership
Under the Resurgens Gaming ownership group, longtime gaming executive Todd Harris has been named CEO of both Ghost Gaming and Skillshot Media.
Nabil Ismail, an executive at Hi-Rez Studios for 11 years before co-founding Skillshot, will become President of Skillshot Media.
Andrew Steinberg, former Chief Business Officer of the Atlanta Hawks and currently Managing Partner of Phoenix Capital Ventures (PCV), has been appointed as Chair of the Board for the combined entity.
“I’m thrilled that the combined capabilities of Skillshot and Ghost Gaming allow us to even better serve both gamers and partners in this region, starting with the Uptown campus in Buckhead and with ambitious regional expansion goals,” Harris said. “Our vision is to foster a diverse but united community through gaming. The choice of Atlanta as our home city is very intentional in support of this mission."
Resurgens Gaming will be based at Uptown Atlanta, a one-million square foot mixed-use project in Buckhead, which is being redeveloped by Rubenstein Partners. Ghost Gaming will open a team headquarters and esports academy next to the recently opened Skillshot Media studio at Uptown. The combined esports campus footprint now includes a state-of-the-art esports production studio, studio set, competitive areas for team scrimmaging and practice, content creation, a classroom where gaming and esports classes are taught for college credit in partnership with the Georgia Film Academy. Additionally, Skillshot will host live esports events within Uptown’s 35,000-square-foot office atrium, which is equipped with digital infrastructure, a massive LED screen, video gaming equipment, golf simulator, coffee shop and wine bar, fitness center and second-story conference space.
“We designed Uptown to be a highly connected hub for innovation, creativity and global experiences,” said Mahesh Mani, senior vice president, asset management at Rubenstein Partners. “Working with Skillshot Media and Ghost Gaming to cement Uptown as a major esports gaming destination is exactly the kind of future-forward experience we want to provide to the Atlanta community. We are excited to begin hosting esports events at Uptown this year, as we work to complete construction on this transformative project.”
The esports hub comes as part of Rubenstein’s reimagination of Uptown into an activated, hyper-accessible mixed-use community. Construction to revitalize Main Street is underway, which includes the addition of outdoor patios for dining that spill into the sidewalks, punched out office balconies that create indoor/outdoor spaces for office tenants and connection with the street-level energy, as well as new building facades that incorporate steel, glass and fresh paint to create a warm and inviting patchwork of buildings that exude character and personality.
The YMCA of Metro Atlanta is excited to debut esports programming in partnership with esports solution provider Skillshot Media and professional esports team Ghost Gaming.
The YMCA of Metro Atlanta esports program will kick off this April and May with youth and teen tournaments in Rocket League. Rocket League was chosen as the initial game because the content is appropriate for all ages, it’s free and accessible across multiple hardware platforms and includes elements of teamwork and cooperation in gameplay. Registration for spring tournaments is open for YMCA members and nonmembers who are ages 8 to 18-years-old.
“We’re excited to augment our traditional youth offerings with esports,” said Jill Moore, group vice president of the YMCA of Metro Atlanta. “We identified Skillshot Media and Ghost Gaming as perfect partners based on their esports experience and their vision of esports for skill development, fun, friendly competition and physical fitness. Play begins this spring with a virtual program, and we plan to expand to in-person play by fall.”
Ghost Gaming, a global gaming organization based in Atlanta, has a top professional Rocket League team which includes a general manager and coach. Ghost has been designated as the official Esports Team Partner of YMCA of Metro Atlanta and will consult on player development as the Y Atlanta program expands in scope.
Skillshot Media is providing esports solution services including assisting with parent education sessions about the benefits of competitive gaming.
“The Y is such a trusted brand in child development,” said Todd Harris, CEO of Skillshot Media. “We’re thrilled they are embracing esports and are humbled to partner with them to deliver competitive gaming in a way that nurtures the potential of children and teens while delivering confidence and connection.”
Parents interested in learning more about esports and the YMCA of Metro Atlanta spring tournaments can attend parent information meetings on Tuesday, April 19 at 7 pm ET and Tuesday, May 10 at 7 pm ET via Zoom sessions.
To register for spring tournaments, click here.
The road to the Collegiate Esports Commissioner’s Cup has begun and will culminate with a live event May 7-8, 2022 at Gateway Center Arena in Atlanta, Georgia. Select partners include Barbasol, Neustreet, the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, CTRL, Reveal Suits, Futures First Gaming, and HomeTown Ticketing.
All CECC ticket holders will automatically be entered to win one of the spectacular experiences, including access to the Big Football Game in Glendale, Arizona February 2023, Atlanta Hawks Opening Night 2022, or an All-Expenses Paid Trip to Hawaii. Ticket holders must be present at the event to win a prize.
Produced by CSMG, ESPORTSU, and Skillshot Media, tickets to CECC are available now at www.cecc.gg for $15 weekend packages or individual day passes for $10 each. Prices increase after May 1. For more information, visit https://www.esportsu.gg, and follow on Instagram and Twitter @CeccEvents.
The esports tournament will feature 64 schools and 480 esports athletes from across the country competing in Overwatch® (the Overwatch Collegiate Esports Commissioners Cup), Rocket League, Super Smash Brothers Ultimate, Valorant and NBA 2K. As various season playoffs and qualifier events continue across the nation, multiple participating conferences already include ECAC, NECC, NJCAAE, ECC and Peach Belt, among others. In all, up to twenty conferences will receive bids for their winning teams to be announced in the coming weeks during the CECC “Selection Show”.
“This event will feature the most diverse and inclusive list of endemic organizations, conference partners, schools and sponsors participating in the premiere event in the history of collegiate esports,” said Angela Bernhard Thomas, EVP of ESPORTSU at CSMG. “To have this many stakeholders who share a common vision for creating a framework for the growth and sustainability of collegiate esports programs and the industry as a whole points to the importance of this event.”
CECC serves as more of a homecoming celebration of gaming rather than a stand-alone esports tournament, and will give attendees a unique festival experience featuring food trucks, live music, a career fair, professional networking, a cosplay costume contest and interactive onsite activations. CECC provides collegiate esports athletes, fans and academic institutions an annual platform for competition, career opportunity, and community.
“What March was for college basketball, May is for college esports!”, said Todd Harris, CEO of Skillshot Media. “Collegiate Esports is on the rise in the eyes of the general public, game publishers, distribution networks, sponsors and pro-team owners, as well as the universities themselves. With this year’s CECC, the nation’s top collegiate esports programs come together to compete across the most popular games.”
Formerly known as Lindbergh City Center, mixed-use development re-emerges as the epicenter of esports in Atlanta, a city ranked #1 for its gaming environment
ATLANTA — Skillshot Media, a leading turnkey esports provider based in Atlanta, today announced plans to create a highly connected esports gaming hub at Uptown Atlanta, the 47-acre mixed-use community being redeveloped by Rubenstein Partners, L.P. (together with its affiliates, “Rubenstein”). Skillshot will relocate its Alpharetta office and production studios to Uptown and partner with Rubenstein to establish Atlanta’s new go-to destination for esports events. Skillshot’s new space will also provide classroom and training space for local students.
Located within Uptown, Skillshot’s space will serve as a production studio, collaborative learning center and retail space. At the ground level, Skillshot is working with Rubenstein to program the 35,000-square-foot office atrium to become Atlanta’s premier venue for esports events. The atrium will be outfitted to host approximately 300-400 gamers for in-person events and feature a massive LED screen with new digital infrastructure to support live streaming to millions of gamers around the world.
Skillshot will be working with industry leading gaming partners in the build-out of the facility. HyperX, the brand leader in gaming and esports peripherals, was named the official peripheral partner of Skillshot at Uptown. As part of the collaboration, HyperX will outfit Skillshot with a range of products, including best-in-class headsets, keyboards, mice and microphones.
Skillshot’s plans for Uptown come as part of the growth and momentum of the esports and gaming industry in Atlanta. Notably, Atlanta is recognized as the #1 city for its gaming environment, and in 2019, the gaming industry contributed $925 million dollars in economic impact to the State of Georgia. In addition, the State’s favorable tax incentives for the esports industry have created an incredible opportunity for expansion, positioning Skillshot and Uptown as the frontrunners in this booming, highly competitive arena.
"With this partnership, Skillshot at Uptown becomes the Metro Atlanta hub for digital media, gaming, and esports," said Todd Harris, CEO of Skillshot Media. "The Rubenstein vision for Uptown as a high-tech and high energy mixed-use environment is a perfect match with Skillshot Media’s aspiration to foster community engagement with gaming. The gaming industry, at $180 billion, is bigger than movies and North American sports combined. Skillshot and Uptown are now well-positioned to serve this massive and broad gaming ecosystem with support for student workforce training, professional esports teams, studio content and broadcasting, and hosting live gaming events."
Skillshot is aligned with the Atlanta Esports Alliance, a private 501(c)6 division of the Atlanta Sports Council (ASC), the group responsible for securing bids for large-scale sporting events like the Olympics, Superbowl and FIFA World Cup. Skillshot Founder and CEO Todd Harris serves as one of the local business leaders in the esports ecosystem working to further metro Atlanta’s position as a global leader in the space.
Skillshot is also partnered with the University System of Georgia and the Georgia Film Academy to offer students workforce development programs for college credit. Skillshot will host its first classes for Georgia State University students at Uptown on August 17, offering credit in Digital Media, Esports Event Production, and Esports Hosting and Commentary.
“Skillshot Media’s new production studio and learning center will be a game changer in Georgia as the state’s esports ecosystem continues to grow and thrive,” said Asante Bradford, the Georgia Department of Economic Development’s Senior Industry Engagement Manager, Center of Innovation – IT. “I look forward to seeing the opportunities Skillshot’s collaborative partnership with both the University System of Georgia and the Georgia Film Academy creates for the next generation of software developers and gamers.”
In addition to the digital infrastructure and LED screen, the renovated office atrium will feature a slew of new amenities, including a gaming center with video game equipment, a golf simulator, bocce ball and foosball; a coffee shop and wine bar; second-story conference space; and state-of-the-art fitness center. The reimagined office atrium comes as part of Rubenstein’s redevelopment of Uptown into a modern mixed-use destination.
“The atrium is the nerve center of Uptown’s reimagined office experience – seamlessly integrated into the vibrant and energetic mixed-use environment that surrounds it and equipped with an incredible selection of high-tech amenities,” said Taylor Smith, Regional Director of the Southeast at Rubenstein. “Skillshot brings an unmatched level of esports expertise and ingenuity to Uptown and this partnership signals an exciting opportunity for the future of digital innovation in Atlanta. Together, we will build upon the undeniable impact of the gaming industry and create a forward-thinking, creative hub for the community.”
Rubenstein, alongside its design partners ASD|SKY and Gensler, is driving the transformation of the transit-oriented property into a hyper-accessible hub of activity for office workers, residents and the community. Redevelopment plans are focused on revitalizing the destination and providing the community with vibrant restaurants and retail, enhanced connectivity with recreational trails and MARTA, modern office amenities and greenspace. Construction is currently underway, with a heavy focus on revamping the streetscape and pedestrian experience along Main Street by adding outdoor patios and office balconies, as well as refreshing building facades.
Rounding out the redevelopment team, global commercial real estate services firm Cushman & Wakefield is leading office leasing at Uptown, with a focus on recruiting companies who value working in a vibrant, highly connected mixed-use destination. Retail real estate consultant firm Revel is overseeing retail leasing, with plans to introduce a globally inspired mix of restaurants and retailers.
Last fall, Uptown launched a series of community events on The Lawn, the property’s expansive greenspace, to infuse the property with energy and unique experiences such as gnome picnics, artist markets, weekly yoga classes and more. Additionally, The Hambidge Center debuted its Cross Pollination Art Lab at Uptown last October, transforming a 12,000-square-foot space along Piedmont Ave into a series of art galleries, studios and performance spaces.
Once complete, Uptown will encompass nearly one million square feet of office space, 120,000 square feet of retail and a variety of community gathering spaces to bring the best of Atlanta together.
Here's an overview of the broad esports ecosystem and assets we have developed in Metro Atlanta thanks to decades of industry, partner, policy, and community support!
Professional Esports Teams?
Too many initiatives to list but a few illustrative examples include:
Annual live gaming events include:
MIAMI, May 25, 2021 -- Reely.ai first commercialized its Machine Vision + AI technology in the collegiate sports market in the Fall of 2019. Seeing a massive opportunity to use its proprietary real-time stream analysis and distribution tool in the esports and gaming world, Reely.ai has partnered with Skillshot Media, a leader in organizing and producing live esports events.
"We've been interested in the gaming space for some time but our focus was primarily collegiate and professional sports," says Reely CEO Daniel Evans. "When most live sports were canceled in the Spring of 2020, we upgraded our tech to handle the massive scale in gaming and teamed up with Skillshot to start training our models and scoring algorithms accordingly."
The new partnership gives Skillshot the ability to push top moments from its competitive esports events to social channels in near real time using AI-based automation. As content is pushed out from the platform, Reely automatically includes event logos and sponsorships, ensuring all content is consistent and meets brand and sponsor guidelines.
"We met the Reely team early last fall as they were working to extend their capabilities to esports. We definitely saw the potential even then and we're thrilled to now have these new tools for our productions. Our fans will love getting exciting moments in their hands quickly to share with friends, add their own commentary or just replay the action," said Todd Harris, founder at Skillshot Media.
The Reely platform currently supports primarily multiplayer competitive titles such as Valorant, Fortnite, Warzone, and Rocket League and top sports titles like FIFA, Madden, and NBA2K. "We were able to port most of the traditional sports models to their gaming counterparts without a lot of tuning, which just goes to show you how well EA and others have replicated the physical sport," added Evans.
Reely currently supports 17 game titles and 13 sports at a 94% accuracy rate, with plans to add new game titles each month.
ABOUT REELY.AI
REELY leverages proprietary computer vision technology and artificial intelligence to identify, segment, and rate key events (highlights) in live streaming and stored VOD content. The technology makes it possible for sports teams, content creators, and esports organizations to deliver their best moments to social audiences in near real time while creating new automation efficiencies in content production and archiving workflows. www.reely.ai
About SKILLSHOT MEDIA
Skillshot connects leading brands to engaged esports fans while delivering positive social impact. We provide a turnkey esports solution for leading competitive titles, including online and offline tournament organization, industry-leading esports production, active community management, and authentic brand integration and consulting for partners. Skillshot has more than five years of esports experience in hosting thousands of global competitors, paying out millions in tournament prizing, and serving more than one billion esports views to date. www.skillshot.com
Press Contact:Maria@reely.ai
The National Association of Collegiate Esports (NACE) and the North America Scholastic Esports Federation (NASEF) concluded their spring seasons this past weekend via a three-day event hosted and broadcasted by Skillshot Media in partnership with Twitch Student. Additional support was provided by partners Microsoft, HyperX, eHire, and Queens Gaming Collective.
Competition was hosted across six different game titles for the event: Madden, FIFA, Rocket League, Hearthstone, CSGO, and Fortnite. With the help of host Lauren “GlitterXplosion” Laracuente, accompanied by casters Trevor “ConfusedCaribou” McNeal, Troy “Pibbbcasts” Welling, Devin “PiraTechnics” Younge, and Tadhg “CelticTigerLoL” Brennan, the NACE and NASEF competition was broadcast via Twitch with a combined total of over 474,000 views.
“Our first-ever Scholastic Esports Championship had over 470,000 live-views across three days of broadcast in partnership with Twitch," said Todd Harris, CEO of Skillshot Media, "We were honored to shine a spotlight on top student competitors and the organizations NASEF and NACE as they advance scholastic esports and prioritize student wellbeing and outcomes"
The 2021 NACE National Championships were held on April 24 and April 25. The spring season started with 277 teams, competing across five different game titles. NACE competition was hosted entirely online this academic year due to the unique challenges the COVID-19 pandemic presented. The NACE National Champions and Spring Cup Winners are listed below:
The three teams listed below also received cash prizes for their respective rankings in the final Fortnite Spring Cup match:
“The 2020-2021 academic year presented a unique challenge for NACE, resulting in a completely online finals competition, the second of which hosted this year,” said Michael Brooks, Executive Director of NACE, “Despite these challenges, the number of esports fielded within NACE more than doubled from the previous year. The impressive results from these finals speaks to the herculean efforts of our members, students and partners. NACE is set up for even more growth in the professionalization of the collegiate esports space.”
The previous Friday, NASEF teams battled it out in the Madden PS4 and Xb1 Championships, the Rocket League Semi-Finals, and the Rocket League Championships. Initially, NASEF’s spring competition included 245 participating teams—192 in Rocket League and 53 in Madden. The NASEF Champions are listed below:
“The Scholastic Esports Championship allows the thousands of students participating in NASEF clubs to gain insight into college scholarships, and pathways to higher education and employment,” said Gerald Solomon, founder and executive director of NASEF.
Thanks all of the 2021 spring season participants for their hard work and dedication. All of the VODs from the National Championships and Fortnite Spring Cup are available at skillshot.tv.
