A short walk across the Schlichting Quad on the main campus—at the end of Super Smash St.—is Fresno Pacific University’s newest sports arena.
There’s a poster of a jacked Sunny the Sunbird on the glass door. Behind that the scene is spartan, but the focus is clear.
Welcome to the Sunbird Esports Center.
Colorful posters of characters from various games pop from the flat-black painted walls. There are a couple of cloth chairs and leather/vinyl couches, but the action is centered on about a dozen gaming computers on long tables in the main part of the room, the long-ago location of Pacific Bookshop. On a random Thursday afternoon three gamers practice their craft so intently that an obviously out-of-place visitor can gaze around a few minutes before anyone looks up.
The wave of the present
FPU launched into the esports multiverse in September 2024, when its fledgling teams started competing in weekly Super Smash Bros. Ultimate and Rocket League tournaments. These were no spur-of-the-moment excuses to zone out and binge takeout pizza and energy drinks, but official matches with other university teams sanctioned by the National Esports Collegiate Conference (NECC). West Coast teams include Fresno State and several UC campuses.
Like any athletic endeavor, esports at FPU are carefully calibrated to appeal to the interests of young people today, build school spirit and attract new students to FPU. “If you look at the research, the number one way of recruiting male students is football. Number two is esports,” says Jake Gilbertson, Ed.D. vice president of student development. “It’s not a small thing. It’s not just nerds hanging out in their dorm rooms. It’s serious. It’s not fringe, its mainstream.”
While many schools spend, and often lose, sizeable sums on football, esports is a bargain: no vast stadiums and parking lots, no pads, not even travel costs as all games are online with each team playing at home in its own space.
“The goal is to make a footprint and to recruit players from area schools,” adds Christopher Carlson, special assistant to Gilbertson, coordinator of FPU esports and coach of both teams. He notes that Fresno Unified School District has a team that meets at nearby Sunnyside High School, and area clubs are also potential recruiting grounds.
Games and teams can be added according to the available players and levels of interest. “This year is just to see how it works,” Carlson says.
This explains the start with two teams. Super Smash Bros. Ultimate requires a minimum of five players, four playing at any given time and one on the bench. Rocket League requires at least four players, three playing and one on the bench. The spring semester saw the addition of an Overwatch 2 team with a full roster of 10 players.
NECC meets are one night a week for each game with seasons each semester. Each league is eight matches per season with the four best teams in each area (Western U.S., for example) advancing into post-season play.
International reach
Esports are organized competitions between individuals or teams playing multiplayer video game competitions. Long part of video game culture, multiplayer competitions were spurred by the advent of online streaming media platforms such as YouTube and Twitch in the late 2000s. By the 2010s, esports was a major part of the video game industry. While Esports first became popular in East Asia, particularly in China and South Korea, it has spread to Europe and the Americas. Today top players in the most popular games play in professional leagues, with teams representing countries, similar to soccer and rugby, playing in internationally broadcast matches complete with onsite audiences and commentators. Other well-known games include League of Legends and Dota.
The NECC began sponsoring esports in the fall of 2020 and today includes more than 300 colleges and universities. The conference currently sponsors both regular season competition and championships across a wide variety of popular titles and works to build a respectful, safe and inclusive environment within the gaming community. More at NECC ESPORTS.
A new kind of student-athlete
At FPU, there is a concerted effort between student development and athletics to integrate esports. Players get scholarships, wear jerseys, take part in Sunbird Media Day and have a presence on the athletics website as well as their own webpage at FPU Esports | Fresno Pacific University. “We try to treat them as much like a student-athlete as we can,” Carlson said.
Yes, there are spectators—and sometimes they get loud. To bolster attendance and save ear drums, there is a viewing area and games are streamed on Twitch, a livestreaming service popular in esports and video games.
Casual gamers are also welcome in the Esports Center with a team member present. “It will be used by the general student body,” Gilbertson says.
So far reality has been above Carlson’s expectations. More players came out than the minimum required, teams are doing better than expected in their rookie seasons and IT has been very helpful.
“It’s been lots of work, but lots of fun,” he says. “Feels like I’m winging it part of the time—but it’s working.”