Concordia University Texas Leaps Into Collegiate Esports With Official Team, Arena Having laid the necessary groundwork, the team will become a varsity program this fall By Kristian Hernandez, Associate Editor
Thursday, November 14, 2019 - 7:00 am
Print This Story
Story Highlights
If you haven't heard by now, esports is kind of a big deal. Gamers like Ninja have made the sport more visible than it used to be by introducing it to the mainstream, but esports' positive momentum in popularity can be credited to the movers and shakers at the grassroots level. And, with gamers mostly in the younger demographics, colleges and universities around the globe are getting involved. One school in particular, Concordia University Texas in Austin, is making moves, establishing a NACE-certified team and filling out a 13-seat playing arena on campus.
From January to July [of 2019], we were building our arena ,and on July 30, we officially opened it to our players and announced it to the public. says Marc Valdoria, coordinator and coach, CTX Esports. What was great about it was that we had multiple departments working on this project instead of just one. When we spoke to most universities, it seemed to be the case where [the esports program] did their own thing and then tried to involve others, but, at Concordia, it was grassroots work, where everyone wanted to be involved to make sure the program was successful.
Fielding a Squad: Concordia Is First Collegiate Esports Team in Austin
This small Division III school in the heart of Texas is a fine example of how esports gains traction, but getting started on this initiative was a bit of a struggle. As for many liberal-arts institutions around the nation, gaining the attention, interest, and commitment from young adults to attend the university can sometimes be a hard bell to answer.
Concordia University Texas's new esports arena has 13 gaming stations with Dell technology and a NewTek TriCaster TC1 production switcher.
All of the other sports that we thought of were going to be too expensive and cost us hundreds of thousands of dollars, says Valdoria. [Esports] was just thrown onto the table since we needed to add another program to entice more students to come here and drive enrollment. When esports was brought up, the administration asked us how much it was going to cost, and [the price] was definitely less than what we had [as our budget].
Valdoria, a graduate of Concordia, didn't really believe that fielding an esports team in the immediate future would happen.
Everything moved extremely fast, he says. It was quite surprising that esports at Concordia happened as fast as it did. This was something we [first] talked about last year around July.
For the finishing touches, Valdoria and his superiors at the university traveled to local schools that were in the midst of developing their own esports program.
Before officially announcing that we were going to have a program at Concordia, he says, we started scouting other universities: around November or December of last year, University of Texas at Dallas and other schools.
Home Sweet Home: Inside of Concordia's Esports Arena
Heading into the second season of the program in 2019, the team will be competing in the National Association of Collegiate Esports (NACE), one of the major independent esports conferences within the college ranks. Concordia can now compete against nearly 300 East Coast schools and more than 150 West Coast schools in Rocket League alone. Since the program will be competing in multiple competitions across five games (besides Rocket League, Overwatch, League of Legends, PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS, and Super Smash Bros. Ultimate), Valdoria has loaded up the squad with a good number of participants.
We have five teams and a total of 40 students, he says. We recruited 10 incoming students since that was our goal; the rest are current students.
To keep pace with the number of contests and sheer number of competitors, the new arena houses 13 gaming stations (12 for players and one for Valdoria as the coach) outfitted with gaming desktops, keyboards, and other necessary equipment.
We worked with Dell to get the hardware in the arena, says Valdoria. That was through the partnership with the IT Department [and the team's AV specialist]. Another vendor that we worked with called Nelco Media deals with NewTek technologies, [and] for production systems, we have the TriCaster TC1 in the arena.
Despite having a room full of gear all its own, the team has been experiencing growing pains. In only his second year, the head coach deals with dilemmas similar to those in traditional sports.
The second-year program is filled with a total of 40 students on five competing teams.
It was quite difficult our first year, says Valdoria. I was able to schedule classes only for the incoming freshmen, so we had to play around the schedules of the current students since they were already set for the semester. During the first season, the practices, for the most part, were in the late afternoon or the evening ,and the latest we would go was about 9:00 or 10:00. It's an issue that we're trying to see if we can work with this season. If they're Overwatch players, I'll tell them that I want them to be out of class by 3:00 so we can start practice. Now they'll know not to take any classes [at that time].
With the roster and practice schedule figured out, the school is ramping up efforts to recruit students with the same fervor to produce the matches.
Right now, [the TriCaster] is being underutilized since we don't have the same student interest as we have for players, says Valdoria. We're kind of building up that side of the program now.
The Cornerstone of the Program: How Esports Can Thrive at Concordia
In jus
North America Stories
04/06/2026
Sony Electronics is introducing the SRG-AS10, a 4K 60p-compatible PTZ auto-frami...
04/06/2026
This recent grad from Spring, TX, led creative-video output for the Aggies' men's basketball team last season and has been producing video and creating ...
04/06/2026
For the first time at a women's golf major, every player in the field will r...
04/06/2026
Three Panasonic PT-RQ45 40,000-lumen 3-Chip DLP projectors made their first live...
04/06/2026
Bitmovin and Akamai have announced a collaboration with NRJ Group, a French mult...
04/06/2026
Telestream will exhibit at InfoComm 2026 (Booth N7952), demonstrating media work...
04/06/2026
Sony has announced the development of RIALTO 65, a 65mm format image sensor block for the VENICE 2 digital cinema camera, targeting release in the first half of...
04/06/2026
KOKUSAI DENKI Electric America will exhibit at InfoComm 2026 (Booth N8025, June ...
04/06/2026
Bell Media's TSN and RDS are the exclusive Canadian broadcasters of FIFA Wor...
04/06/2026
The Challenge: Receiving Heavy Media Files From Road Games Quickly and ReliablyT...
04/06/2026
MASV, a managed file transfer platform used in broadcast and live sports product...
04/06/2026
NESN has announced the appointment of Fahad Haider as Vice President of Operations and Engineering. Haider returns to NESN, where he previously served as Vice P...
04/06/2026
David J. Halberstam, who spent almost 50 years in sports as a broadcaster and an executive, died June 2 after a years-long battle with brain cancer.
Over his l...
04/06/2026
Although collegiate production programs are tasked with delivering high-quality ...
04/06/2026
California studio, two production trucks, global distribution system are combine...
04/06/2026
New global program empowers and supports storytellers through scriptwriting course and access to industry experts
TikTok and Sundance Institute today announce...
04/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
04/06/2026
Bitmovin, a leading provider of video streaming infrastructure, and Akamai, the cybersecurity and cloud computing company that powers and protects business onli...
04/06/2026
American Underground (AU), the Startup Hub of the South and a community of mor...
04/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
04/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
04/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
04/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
04/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
04/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
04/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
04/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
04/06/2026
NVIDIA and Microsoft Reinvent Windows PCs for the Age of Personal AI
Brie Clayton June 3, 2026
0 Comments
RTX Spark - a 1-Petaflop Superchip, the Full...
04/06/2026
Inside the Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man Grade
Brie Clayton June 3, 2026
0 Comments
Simone Grattarola discusses shaping the look in DaVinci Resolve...
04/06/2026
Cine Gear Expo Announces 2026 Awards of Excellence Recipients
Brie Clayton June 3, 2026
0 Comments
Ed Lachman ASC, Caleb Deschanel ASC, and M. David M...
04/06/2026
St. Vincents Live with Orchestra Tour to Feature Berklee Alum Ruby Plume Berklee alumni St. Vincent and Ruby Plume will appear on the same bill across seven d...
04/06/2026
Back to All News
All the Truth in My Lies Coming to Netflix on August 28
Entertainment
04 June 2026
GlobalSpain
Link copied to clipboard
Download the imag...
04/06/2026
Back to All News
Larry Tanz, VP of Content, EMEA, Delivers a Keynote Speech at ...
04/06/2026
Back to All News
Turn Your Living Room into a Stadium With the New FIFA World ...
04/06/2026
Keeping conversations real on LinkedIn Published on Jun 4, 2026 Categories: Product News
LinkedIn Corporate Communications
Share
LinkedIn
Facebook ...
04/06/2026
June's forecast with GeForce NOW: 100% chance of gaming.
GeForce NOW is lining up new adventures for the month, from big-name blockbusters to quirky indies...
03/06/2026
SES and Viva, Mexico's ultra low-cost airline, have launched multi-orbit satellite inflight connectivity on Viva's Airbus aircraft. A total of 60 A320s ...
03/06/2026
The College Football Playoff, ESPN, and TNT Sports have announced kick times and...
03/06/2026
RED Digital Cinema will exhibit at Cine Gear Expo 2026 (Booth 33, June 5-6, Universal Studios Lot), hosting three panels and hands-on product demonstrations.
P...
03/06/2026
Roku has announced the Soccer Zone, a dedicated hub for FIFA World Cup 2026 content available across the United States, Canada, Mexico, Brazil, Colombia, Argent...
03/06/2026
Liverpool FC and Wasabi Technologies have announced a multi-year extension of their partnership, with Wasabi continuing as the club's official cloud storage...
03/06/2026
Grass Valley has announced that Australian News Channel (ANC), operator of Sky News Australia, has deployed Grass Valley AMPP as part of the relocation of its n...
03/06/2026
The Riedel Group has announced the appointment of Gudrun Scharler as CEO of Riedel Networks. She succeeds Michael Martens, who has led Riedel Networks since 201...
03/06/2026
Clear-Com has announced the deployment of its intercom solutions at Itaka Arena ...
03/06/2026
Scott Coker has announced six senior executive appointments for his new global MMA promotion, which launched earlier this year with $60 million in financing. Ad...
03/06/2026
Telemundo, the exclusive Spanish-language home of the FIFA World Cup 2026, has announced its digital and social media programming for the tournament, running Ju...
03/06/2026
The Bundesliga has announced the launch of Captain, an AI assistant built into t...
03/06/2026
Anthony James Partners (AJP) is serving as technology consultant for a moderniza...
03/06/2026
Audio-Technica has announced the recipients of its annual sales rep firm awards for the 2025-26 fiscal year. The awards were presented by Jim Schanz, Executive ...
Concordia University Texas Leaps Into Collegiate Esports With Official Team, Arena Having laid the necessary groundwork, the team will become a varsity program this fall By Kristian Hernandez, Associate Editor 
