JERSEY CITY, N.J. (NJCUGothicKnights.com) | New Jersey City University has officially announced the addition of eSports as a competitive athletics program, effective with the 2020-21 season.
 
NJCU eSports will become the department's 22nd program, its first co-ed competitive offering and will operate as a club program in a partnership between athletics, student affairs and campus life.
 
The program will compete in a new, custom-branded, state-of-the-art eSports lab on the second floor of the Gilligan Student Union Building on campus. Justin Flanagan will serve as its first student/head coach of the eSports program, coordinating the competitive rosters for all games. He specializes in Overwatch.
 
The eSports program will be unveiled with an inaugural Super Smash Bros. tournament on Saturday, June 27. More information on the inaugural tournament will be announced in the coming days.
 
"The addition of eSports as a competitive program continues our aggressive pursuit of national prominence as an intercollegiate athletics program and as an institution of higher education," said NJCU President Dr. Sue Henderson, the former chair of the NCAA Division III President's Council. "The eSports ecosystem is still evolving which makes NJCU's commitment to this space even more exciting. NJCU athletics has been on the ground floor in other sports, including women's wrestling this year, and with the business of eSports booming, this new program creates an amazing opportunity for our students."
 
"The announcement of our NJCU eSports program is the culmination of 18 months of dialogue, research, planning and preparation and we believe now is the ideal time for NJCU Athletics and our university to join this movement," said Shawn Tucker, Associate Vice President and Director of Athletics. "Gaming is the fastest-growing form of entertainment in the world and the addition of eSports presents a great opportunity for our students, adding another dimension to our robust intercollegiate offerings. This program has unlimited growth potential as it continues to evolve. As one of the first eSports programs in New Jersey, NJCU will once again be a leader in a competitive space in collegiate athletics."
 
Flanagan said: "I'm excited to see the program start. Everyone I have talked to has been waiting for the chance to compete on our own campus and play somewhere where it feels like it matters. Our campus is diverse both in ethnicity and interests. This is a chance for more communities to be represented on campus and for more people to take interest in new or unique experiences that they may have not had before."
 

The eSports program becomes the 10th addition to the NJCU lineup since June 2018—joining men's and women's indoor and outdoor track and field, men's and women's tennis, men's and women's wrestling and women's golf, announced in that order. 
 
With 22 sport offerings, NJCU sponsors the most programs of any school in the New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) and among the most of any public institution in NCAA Division III. NJCU will join Stockton University as the only members of the NJAC to offer an eSports program.
 
A fast-growing billion-dollar industry, the term eSports describes the world of competitive, organized video gaming. Competitors from different leagues or teams face off in the same games that are popular with at-home gamers. At the highest levels, these gamers are watched and followed by millions of fans all over the world, who attend live events or tune in on TV or online, often via streaming services such as Twitch.
 
The Gothic Knights are expected to compete in the National Association of Collegiate eSports (NACE), competing in games including Overwatch, League of Legends, Rocket League, Madden, FIFA, Super Smash Bros., Rainbow Six Siege, Call of Duty, Apex Legends, Tekken, and Fortnite. NJCU's eSports team for the inaugural Fall 2020 semester will primarily compete in Super Smash Bros. and Overwatch.
 
NACE formed in 2016 and is the largest governing body of intercollegiate eSports in the country. It is developing the structure and tools needed to advance the emerging sport and is the only association of varsity esports programs at colleges and universities across the country. NACE currently includes more than 170 member schools and over 5,000 student-athletes.
 
Flanagan summarized "If you are a casual gamer or have never experienced eSports before, this is a good chance for you to get to know a screen full of passion and fun. If you play and are unsure if you should join then you should definitely join. Playing in tournaments is an experience you will not easily replicate elsewhere." 
 
Interested students can email Coach Flanagan at NJCUESports@NJCU.edu or via the Discord app: https://discord.com/invite/EXPxSK2. NJCU eSports is also on social media on Twitter (@NJCUeSports) and Instagram (@NJCUeSports).  
 
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NEW JERSEY CITY UNIVERSITY—Announces the addition of eSports as a competitive program.