Utah Tech builds new gaming room for university esports teams

August 22, 2022 World Emerging Markets

Below a floor of treadmills, rock climbing walls, pools and weight racks, a different competitive scene has found a new home in Utah Tech’s massive Human Performance Center: Electronic Sports or esports.

The club’s new room is equipped with four side-by-side, wide-screen TVs, a Nintendo Switch, an Xbox One and 12 powerful gaming computers provided through the university’s partnership with Dell. Two multi-monitor PCs officiate the club’s online streaming platforms, where club members can join remotely.

Danny Finnegan, the club’s president and a senior studying interaction design, spoke about the club’s purpose and how Utah Tech is tackling the massively competitive esports scene, where video game players can earn millions of dollars a year.

“With gaming, there’s so much depth in almost every new game that’s coming out,” Finnegan said. “Esports-wise, you can sink hundreds and thousands of hours and get new experiences, meet new people and level up your game.”

“A lot of our players are that unreachable audience, the people who don’t show up to big events on campus, athletic events. They’re like hermits, but they can find a community here that shares all their interests, and they can find school spirit with us.”

Growing up with video games like “Pokemon,” Finnegan began competing in buy-in tournaments for “Super Smash Bros” when he was 16.

Finnegan said his first tournament was one to remember. He went to a small gathering of gamers at Game Haven in St. George, not knowing any of the other players. The tournament was double-elimination. Finnegan quickly lost both of his matches.

“Yeah, I got totally slapped, but I also met some of my would-be longest friends.”