A tour of the facilities to entice the top recruit used to be the purview of college basketball and football, but universities are increasingly using esports to woo students to their campus.
It’s just the latest sign of an industry that is growing rapidly, something that even the unprecedented situation surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic hasn’t been able to slow down thanks to the built-in ability to operate remotely.
But the esports arenas being built across the country aren’t going to sit vacant forever. As the COVID-19 pandemic draws to a close, the demand for esports events won’t dip, and crowds will once again come see their favorite Fortnite, League of Legends or Overwatch players in person.
Not only do venues need a beautiful screen to display the action, said Jeff Volk, Vice President of Alpha Video, they also can use the same technology to give attendees a full experience and maximize sponsor exposure.
“As we shift back into using venues and facilities, a lot of our clients are looking to install large-format video screens to be able to host watch parties and various different marketing and promotional events that have their sponsors, their team and their brand,” Volk said.
Some universities, esports arenas and other venues may look at projection options rather than going with LED, but Miles Dean, Business Development Manager, Sports & Entertainment at Unilumin USA, said that may be a shortsighted approach.
“That cost is going to be very comparable to the projected on a five-year term, and, with LED, you have much more flexibility, a large color gamut, greyscale, white scale, blacks, all solid colors,” Dean said. “That’s what’s key and important, because a lot of these organizations, when they want a display, they want it to look nice.
“They want Coke red to look red, they want Facebook blue to look Facebook blue. That’s the important thing – LED can give you that large color gamut as a performance standard.”
With esports looking to be in it for the long haul, a decision made with a stronger vision in mind might be the way for institutions to brighten their futures.