Last November, the 2024 League of Legends World Championship was held at the 02 Arena; it attracted 14,700 live attenders and a peak viewership of 6.9 million people across streaming platforms. At the time the Deputy Mayor of London for Business and Growth said: “We want London to be the sporting capital of the world and the world capital of esports.”
In order to achieve that aim, the UK needs more esports training centres. Although an outdated presumption is that esports facilities only contain banks of desks with high-end PCs, the reality is different.
Early next year, the National Esports Performance Campus (NEPC) in Sunderland is set to open its gaming and esports arena. Sitting alongside the rest of the campus’s training and housing facilities, it is designed as both a live space for competitive gaming events and, crucially, a training and education hub.
While the drive to become an esports star, playing to millions of people, is undoubtedly the goal for many young people, there is a growing recognition that esports training does not simply mean endlessly drilling players in the finer points of League of Legends, Street Fighter 6, or EAFC gameplay.
The NEPC, for example, trains would-be esports players in stagecraft, replicating the conditions of walking out to an audience of thousands. It, like many other esports facilities, also provides health and dietary education, as well as broadcast and media training. It demonstrates that, for the UK, the larger opportunity is in training and upskilling young people in esports-adjacent careers.
We see that approach taking hold in esports-based training centres, like that of Nottingham Trent University. Its esports curriculum and business development manager Gin Rai says: “We didn’t go ahead and make 50 rooms full of gaming PCs so that students could come in and play.
“[We said] actually, we’ll show you a production gallery, a production studio, an arena or venue… and that is connected to the live events industry. That’s where the eyes have started to open from parents, employers and so forth, and that’s where we’ve gained success.”
As a result of that training in broadcast and content creation alongside esports, Nottingham Trent graduates have gone on to work for some of the largest names in competitive gaming, from Riot Games to Blizzard.
The NEPC arena is being purpose-built with streaming and content creation in mind, the better to take advantage of similar opportunities. It will contain a private 5G infrastructure capable of running remote broadcasts and 100-player mobile gaming tournaments, in addition to the 250-person capacity esports stage.
As Kalam Neale, head of education at British Esports points out, that skillset is also in increasing demand outside the esports industry. “It’s about digital skills. It’s about skills for the jobs of the future,” he says. “It’s about skills in cloud-based technology, software engineering, AI… esports is data rich, so the ability that we have to upskill the next generation of the workforce, where we know we have lots of skill gaps, there’s a lot of the work that we do.”
As important as those consumer arenas and higher education facilities are, grassroots esports centres are also providing much-needed training in deprived areas.
Mark Ryan is vice-principal for curriculum at RNN Group, a training and education provider with a focus on sporting provision. He has worked with Barnsley College – which exists in an area of deep deprivation – to develop its esports facilities. He notes that, initially, the esports facilities were limited to a few high-end PCs, but quickly grew beyond that as the team recognised it was not simply about gaming for the young people who attended. “What’s been brilliant to see is the students take autonomy of their learning,” he says.
“Even if they don’t move into [roles] within that [esports] ecosystem, what it will do is provide these individuals with the confidence and the skills to go out and be confident, to get a job.”
The creation of new facilities that include both the means to play competitive games and learn new skills is also proving to be a powerful draw for people outside education.
Liam Dickinson is digital curriculum & esports development lead for Nexus Multi Academy Trust, which has recently invested in further esports facilities. He says: “We have students with social, emotional, mental health [issues]... what we’re seeing with them is a real improvement in intent, in attendance, and also behaviour. They attend our esports centres and are now re-engaged in learning.”
That chimes with the aims of esports organisations like GiantX, which fields teams in League of Legends and competitive shooter Valorant. Its COO Virginia Caldo says: “Esports sit at the intersection of technology, creativity, and youth culture, three of the UK’s strongest sectors. Investing in structured programmes and accessible spaces helps bridge the gap between play and profession, equipping young people with real skills in teamwork, communication, problem-solving and digital literacy.”
Esports, like sport in general, are aspirational and escapist. The dream for many is to be the best player in the world, attracting adulation and a fortune in sponsorships.
But as these initiatives and training facilities demonstrate, esports education can also be a powerful tool for lifting young people out of deprivation and providing career paths. If the UK wishes to achieve its ambitions of becoming a major esports destination, it needs to invest in more facilities like the NEPC.
Photograph from Nottingham Trent Univerity Esports