College sports are changing with the times — the field is no longer limited to athletics. Professional esports, a competition that is essentially competitive videogaming, are part of a new wave of entertainment that is hitting the mainstream. On Wednesday, the University of Utah announced that they are creating the first Varsity League of Legends team in the Power Five conferences — Pac-12, Big Ten, Big 12, Atlantic Coast and Southeastern.
Esports are currently one of the fastest growing entertainment trends. The 2015 international League of Legends World Championship peak viewer count hit around 14 million, and total viewer count was 36 million, which is nearly one third of the audience of the 2015 Super Bowl, that attracted about 114.