EOB Esports Academy, an organization in the U.K. that teaches business in esports, is partnering with Riot Games for their first tournament at the Red Bull Gaming Sphere in London.
EOB offers students the chance to learn how to create an esports team, events management, game design, and 3D modelling. The partnership will see 13 students take part in a one-of-a-kind course mentored by industry professionals and pro players.
Over the last four weeks, students have been developing their skills in business management to learn how to successfully manage a League of Legends team through various workshops and classes with esports players and industry professionals. These students will now have to put everything they’ve learnt into practice in an esports tournament hosted at the Red Bull Gaming Sphere in London on Aug. 19.
“Riot is committed to furthering the esports ecosystem and providing new talent with an opportunity to learn and grow.” Mo Fadl, Head of Esports at Riot Games said in the press release. “We are very excited to help the EOB Esports Academy with their first tournament. Having spoken to the students taking part I can already see myself working for them in the future.”
Esports education in the U.K. has been increasing steadily over the past few years. Staffordshire became the first university in the U.K. to offer an esports degree this year, with the course aiming to focus on the business side of esports.
ESL also announced a partnership with the University of York to teach esports production in May. The module will start this Fall as a final year specialization option accessible to students registered on the department’s film and TV production or interactive media programs.
Riot Games partnership with EOB just represents another big company helping to provide esports education to schools and universities. If esports is to become a true global powerhouse, grassroots education initiatives could hold the key to integrating it into culture and society more widely.
