UTD’s going all in on esports. From billboards proclaiming our state superiority in esports to a new multi-million-dollar esports arena named after an eyeroll-inducing League of Legends pun, UTD has invested millions into hoisting up its esports program to the same level that other universities hold their football teams. As a famously nerdy school, it might make sense that the flagship sports spearheading our school spirit are gaming related. But despite the university having a large gamer population, esports are fundamentally different from traditional sports in ways that make them significantly less effective at propagating school spirit. If we want to build a brighter future for UTD where Comets have pride in our university, the school needs to start prioritizing our physical athletics programs over esports.
The primary issue with relying on esports to provide school spirit is that they are fundamentally digital experiences. Going in-person to a soccer or basketball game is an entirely different experience to watching them on the TV. Hearing the crowd roar as someone scores a goal or makes a layup is something that fills your heart with pride for your team. The same is simply not true for esports. The game you see on the livestream is the exact same game you see in the esports arena, leading to a more insular experience than traditional sports. The incentive isn’t nearly as strong to show up and show out for your team, and as such the atmosphere of excitement tends to be missing. And without excitement, who cares about sports?
The game you see on the livestream is the exact same game you see in the esports arena, leading to a more insular experience than traditional sports.
Even if esports had the same effect on audiences as traditional sports, another issue facing esports is their declining popularity. Major esports events are reporting record low viewership numbers, illustrating what appears to be a decline in the overall popularity of esports as spectator sports. If our flagship sport is in decline, then how can we expect to see a consistent and sustained growth of our school spirit? Our traditional sports, on the other hand, are not beholden to popularity trends. Our physical athletics programs have been around for decades and have only been increasing in popularity. Just last year, UTD Athletics began their transition to NCAA Division II, a transition that brings with it increased funding for athletes, athletics programs and athletics advertisements. UTD unfortunately has been stifling the potential growth brought by the transition, and by proxy our school spirit, through their lack of a clear vision for these programs.
UTD does care to some degree for our traditional sports programs. The university recently bought an ad in Times Square to advertise our athletics programs, and they paid to send our men’s basketball team to Europe and our golf team to Hawaii. But promotion is lacking where it matters for UTD Athletics. Did you even know we had a school-sponsored golf team before I mentioned it? Probably not. This is an issue that permeates all of UTD’s athletics. With the sole exception of the UTD men’s basketball team, games are almost never advertised to the UTD student body. In my experience going to on-campus soccer games, the only people to show up to games were the immediate friends and family of the players. The majority of the time, the bleachers were predominantly filled by supporters of the visiting team. Our athletics program simply cannot grow unless UTD begins telling people to come to our games.
With the sole exception of the UTD men’s basketball team, games are almost never advertised to the UTD student body.
Perhaps the worst thing to come out of UTD’s prioritization of esports over traditional sports are the budget cuts. In May, UTD attempted to cut the track and cross country teams, citing financial issues and budget cuts, just after UTD opened the brand-new $15 million esports center. In their pursuit to build up the esports programs, UTD has spent millions that potentially could have been used to support other athletics programs that could possibly be more effective in improving UTD’s school spirit.
Beginning this year, UTD Athletics will officially compete in the Lone Star Conference. If UTD fails to capitalize on this moment to bolster traditional sports programs, then we will never escape our reputation for having low school spirit. Until then, support our athletics programs. If you want to see UTD have stronger school spirit, then look up the season schedule for sports you enjoy and make an effort to attend them. At this point, it’s all we can do.