What Are Esports and How Can You Get Involved in Lubbock?

I have recently been getting more involved in the world of gaming, and it is quite fascinating. I build my first PC earlier this year and started expanding my gaming skills and knowledge outside of just Nintendo and old Xbox games.

As a part of this process, I have learned a lot about the esports community and what all goes into the rapidly growing industry of competitive gaming. I know there are probably some other baby gamers out there, or simply those that are curious about the industry. So, here is a little bit of a guide to esports and the community here in Lubbock.

What Are Esports?

Esports (or electronic sports) is the term used to describe the industry of competitive gaming. It entails individuals or teams compete in tournaments in an effort to win a cash prize. These prizes can amount to millions of dollars, like the 2019 Dota 2 and Fortnight prize pools that surpassed $30 million.

Esports has become a billion-dollar industry due to the hard work and dedication of the professional gamers that compete in these tournaments. It has also grown to what it is today because of tournament hosts like Major League Gaming (MLG), World Cyber Games, and the Electronic Sports World Cup.

Major league gamers are making up to $3.4 million each year from sponsorship deals and winning tournaments. Most of these gamers are very young with an average age of 22 and some as young as 13 years old.

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How Can You Get Involved in Lubbock?

If you want to start getting involved in esports at a local level, you have a couple of options. Lubbock is home to a Contender eSports lounge that hosts monthly tournaments for a variety of games. They do a cash pool that each tournament player must contribute to, and the winner takes home the whole pot.

This is also a good place if you aren't ready to compete, you just want to give gaming a try, or you don’t have a console or PC available at home. You can get a membership or simply pay by the hour to get in some practice on your gaming skills and possibly win one of their tournaments.

There is also an option for Texas Tech students looking to compete. Tech has an esports team that is currently competing at a regional and national level. They are competing in the games Apex Legends, Call of Duty, CS:GO, Hearthstone, League of Legends, Overwatch, Rainbow 6, Rocket League, and Valorant. The Tech eSports Association is also partnered with Contender eSports here in Lubbock.

Esports is something that is open to anyone and every one no matter your age, gender, or physical ability. It is a great opportunity to have some fun playing your favorite games and possibly make some money out of it.