How one startup managed to bring 'Fortnite' and 'League of Legends' esports to 13,000 schools in exclusive deals
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PlayVS now supports more than 13,000 schools and has worked with the National Federation of High Schools to establish varsity esports programs in 18 states.With multimillion dollar tournaments and live broadcasts on ESPN, professional gaming has entered the mainstream, but the growing esports industry still lacks the sort of professional pipeline and player development that has become standard for traditional sports.
"In traditional sports we can go to Dick's Sporting Goods, buy a football or basketball and create our own league and no one's going to say anything. People assume that you can do that same thing in esports, and legally — you can't," PlayVS founder and CEO Delane Parnell said. "It was tough early on trying to convince the game publishers to work with us — we've only been around for two years," Parnell said. "I think they saw the value in our effective distribution to an audience."
For video game publishers, funding high school and collegiate esports programs can encourage younger players to play older games and treat them like an ongoing sport. Riot Games recently celebrated the 10th anniversary of "League of Legends." Programs like PlayVS could help produce another generation of "LoL" players.
"Player experience is at the forefront of everything we do," Parnell said. "This means not only bringing students access to the game titles that they love, but fully integrating with publishers to further improve the overall high school esports experience."
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