Sports Media Report
Alongside the EGF Collegiate Power Series, EGF (Electronic Gaming Federation), Microsoft and Syracuse University have formed a strategic partnership to create the Virtual Esports Industry Pro Summit April 27-May 8. Along with the summit, EGF has also created experiential learning opportunities for students from Syracuse University’s Newhouse School. Within the EGF Collegiate Power Series broadcast. Newhouse students provided shoutcasting and live post game interviews. Students from Syracuse University’s Falk College and School of Information Studies were provided with opportunities to analyze the data generated from an Esports tournament as well.
The Virtual Esports Industry Pro Summit features several panelists from Microsoft, EGF, and Syracuse University. Also scheduled to appear include media representatives from Turner Sports, and ESPN and Mixer, major publishers including Psyonix, Blizzard and pro teams including NRG Esports. The Summit airs on Mixer just prior to the EGF Collegiate Power Series for 10 weeknights from 4pm ET April 27-May 8.
“Microsoft is excited to partner with EGF and Syracuse University by harnessing student enthusiasm for esports and offering this unique opportunity for students to learn from thought leaders and gain experience in live casting,” says Josh Reynolds, Senior Account Executive at Microsoft. “While other sports are offline right now, esports continue to grow and empower students.”
“This is a tremendous opportunity for our students to explore data and create analytical insights in the exciting and growing field of esports. We thank Microsoft and EGF for their support and guidance,” said Dr. Rodney Paul, Esports Economist and Professor in the Department of Sport Management at Syracuse University’s Falk College of Sport and Human Dynamics.
“In addition to being a path to pro for esports players, EGF is capturing the passion of students to help provide professional experience in the esports industry as a whole.” said Eric Johnson, CEO, EGF. “EGF’s main focus is to empower students – this tournament not only provides meaningful competition to D-I schools nationwide, but also our partnership with Microsoft and Syracuse permits students to gain live journalist experience with internships that had otherwise dried up during Covid-19.”
The EGF Collegiate Power Series features a multi-week qualifying round starting on April 20th, that is progressing to a championship bracket that will decide a winner on May 10th. The tournament features 41 schools including: USC, UCLA, Cal Berkeley, Georgia Tech, Kentucky, Missouri, Syracuse and Washington State. The BIG EAST conference jumped on board early to form an entire division and has already completed qualifying with Marquette, Seton Hall, DePaul and Xavier advancing to the finals. Full list of teams and results are at EGF.gg. EGF Power Series airs on Mixer, YouTube, Facebook and Twitch @officialEGF
