The Butler Esports program competes in the Big East conference and the National Associate of College Esports. Collegian stock photo.
DOROTHY LAKSHMANAMURTHY | STAFF REPORTER | dlakshmanamurthy@butler.edu
Entering its seventh year, Butler Esports plans to make some changes and improvements to its program in order to attract opportunities for all students; not only esports members.
The esports program sought student suggestions and opinions on improving the program through a survey sent out over the summer to all students. While reviewing the survey, Aaron Hurt, vice president of arts, events, and enterprise management, found participants wanted a more student-focused program.
“We have to make sure that we are putting on the events for the students and making it the best experience possible,” Hurt said. “It’s about how we make sure we’re being better stewards of the park for student success and student activation.”
In order to initiate this change, Dr. Frank Ross III, vice president for student affairs, looked back at some of the previous events held by the esports program that incorporated students other than those in esports.
“When we held our fraternity and sorority presidents’ first meeting of the year at the Esports Park, it made those students realize how cool and different the park is than what they might have envisioned,” Ross said. “What students are going to see more of this year are these sorts of opportunities for all Butler students to come in, check out the park and get involved.”
This year, esports has various events on its agenda. These events include The Butler Brawl, held last Saturday, and The Battle for Indiana, which will be held at the Esports Park on Oct. 28 and 29.
The Butler Brawl invited both Butler students and community members to compete in a Super Smash Bros tournament for a $300 prize pool. The Battle for Indiana will bring in schools such as Purdue Fort Wayne, Ball State University, IU-Indy and Purdue University to compete in Valorant, Rocket League and League of Legends.
Esports also seeks to include programming for students at the facility to accomplish its goal of increased student focus.
“It’s about figuring out how we do more or activate programming in the park for Butler students, or the community if they want to come,” Hurt said. “So, we’re not going after national entities to bring them in to do all the things.”
The esports program held a two-day pre-orientation program called Esports Park 101 on Aug. 22 and 23 to try and spark student interest. This program included a tour of the esports facility and a discussion of information about esports and gaming. Ross found this program to be beneficial for potential recruitment.
“Right away we’ve launched this pre-orientation [program] to really try and reach out to students before they’ve even come on campus,” Ross said. “So that’s an opportunity for us to build that affinity with our new incoming first-year class who might have an interest in gaming or being on one of these sports teams.”
Ross was also heavily involved in building the current Esports Park, which opened its doors fall of 2022. Prior to the park’s existence, the esports program, established in 2017, met at a gaming center stationed in the basement of Atherton Union.
“We wanted to create a bigger space for students,” Ross said. “I think it all comes back to the point of being student-focused and that we are making these activations and places for students ourselves. For me, that goal has been for the park to be a hub of student engagement and activity on campus.”
Maddox Kaye, esports president and sophomore entrepreneurship and innovation major, believes the program has always been efficient in bringing in student engagement.
“Most of the people that come in here and play on the computers aren’t on a team,” Kaye said. “They just come here because the facility is nice, and they want to play games. They just come here to have fun. So, it’s already pretty well incorporated with all students.”
Kaye still notices room for improvement funding-wise, but he foresees the program moving in the right direction with these changes.
“We don’t make money like the basketball team,” Kaye said. “Basketball can give scholarships because they make a lot of money from tickets and whatnot. However, our program is making the correct steps and changes for successors beyond me to break that chain.”
