College esports in the United States is played by teams of amateur student-athletes at American universities and colleges. In the late 2000s, schools began forming esports clubs to play video games in self-organized collegiate tournaments.[1][2] The first officially recognized varsity esports program was created at Robert Morris University in 2014.[3][4][5]
While there are thousands of schools that participate in collegiate esports competitions, in 2018, there were at least 73 college varsity esports programs, and by 2019 over 130 college varsity programs.[6] College esports is often viewed as a starting path for gamers that aspire to go professional.
In 2016, the North American Collegiate Championship (NACC) became the University League of Legends (uLoL) Campus Series, run by CSL, after IvyLoL and NACL stopped functioning and many of their staff were hired as Riot Games employees to orchestrate their collegiate activities.[7][8][9] In the Fall of 2017, Riot Games announced that it would rebrand again as College League of Legends and switch official partners from CSL to Battlefy.[10] In May 2019, Riot Games announced the formation of the Riot Scholastic Association of America (RSAA) as the governing body for collegiate and high school esports for League of Legends.[11]
The Esports Collegiate Conference was created on June 10, 2020, by member institutions of the Mid-American Conference, to facilitate esports competitions.[12]
The National Association of Collegiate Esports, otherwise known as NACE or NAC Esports, was founded in 2016.[13] As of 2021, its membership includes over 170 colligate organizations.[14] The organization offers competition in Rocket League, League of Legends, Overwatch, and other titles.[15]