A Sport Management Major Levels Up Her Esports Education

Growing up Jennifer enjoyed traditional sports like baseball and volleyball. She assumed she’d build a career in that world. However, NYU opened new doors. Jennifer enrolled in the Business of Esports, which explored competitive gaming and its future growth potential. The course opened her eyes to the many possibilities in the industry. Later, in the Advanced Seminar in Sports Management, she worked alongside her classmates to pitch partnership opportunities to real-world professionals. There, she connected with top names from the field, including the vice president from Cloud9, a professional esports organization. “That class was amazing,” Jennifer says. “It taught me not only about the esports industry but also how to explore beyond it.”

At NYU, not all your classes take place in New York City. Through NYU SPS’ Global Field Intensives—short-term, for-credit courses that take students to another country or city—Jennifer has been able to explore esports on an international scale. In January 2024 she traveled to South Korea, a hub for esports, to study the industry firsthand. There, she visited LoL Park, where she watched players warm up and prepare for matches, and took a behind-the-scenes tour. The class also visited Krafton, the company behind the video game PUBG: Battlegrounds and the powerhouse South Korean esports organization T1.

Jennifer has also had the opportunity to apply her knowledge through industry events. For example, she and her classmates attended the Society of Actuaries conference in Washington, DC. There, they educated actuaries on esports, organized a small-scale tournament, and provided a much-needed break for conference attendees. “They never knew they’d have so much fun at an actuary conference!” she exclaims.

Additionally, Jennifer spent the summer of 2025 working at Valorant Champions Tour (VCT) Masters 2 in Toronto. The international tournament is hosted by Riot Games and featured 12 professional teams from around the globe. As a production assistant for VCT, she had the chance to play “on the same computers the professionals play on.”

What’s more, Jennifer complements her academic exploration of esports through campus activities. She hosts a radio show with WNYU’s sports department called /teamchat and works on special event ticketing and concessions for NYU Athletics. She’s even hosting an upcoming panel on the esports industry with SPS. “My time at NYU has definitely taught me how to make relationships and build connections. Now, I can do something I never thought I’d be able to do. How many people can say they’ve hosted a panel with esports professionals?” she says. “And I wouldn’t have been able to do it if I wasn’t at NYU.”