University of Utah is the First Power Five School to Offer Scholarship in Video Games; The School Says ‘It Hopes to Encourage Other Schools’

The University of Utah is the very first school to offer scholarships for competitive video gaming and students are all happy thinking the school is giving purpose to their game addictions. The University have announced on Wednesday that the school's EAE video gaming development program resulted into advance varsity "sports program."

The school dominated the Princeton Review and claimed the number one spot for its EAE (Entertainment Arts and Engineering) undergraduate program. Bloomberg has reported that the University of Utah is now offering scholarships for students to compete in its esports program.

The University reportedly the first school to offer scholarships for video gamers from any of the Power Five athletics conferences (Big 10, SEC, ACC, Pac-12, East). Blasting News reported that the esports program of the University of Utah will be sponsored by the school's Entertainment Arts and Engineering department.

It is also a home to one of the top video game design programs in Utah and is fully funded by EAE with no funds from Utah Athletics. EAE students have already produced nine games in 2016 and this year, students planned to release 12 more games, Sports Naut has reported.

The University of Utah is first to offer a partial scholarship to players. The plan of the school to offer a full scholarship is for up to 35 games is then the program earns and picks up revenues from its sponsors and marketing. According to reports, Riot Games' "League of Legends" will be the first confirmed game that the school's program will participate in.

Also, the university's program plans to announce its participation in more games soon. Some other schools like Robert Morris University, UC Irvine, and Columbia Collage already introduced and have offered the esports program and scholarship. But the University of Utah's new program is first for a Power Five school.

The University of Utah wanted to encourage other schools to offer the scholarship and the program. Also, the "Big ten" has journeyed into space with the "League of Legends" to host a "Big Ten" season that set to feature players from the 12 conference's schools.