ESPN: “Aiming to recruit and engage more competitive video gamers, a dozen schools in the Mid-American Conference are creating a stand-alone esports conference to offer structured competition without the extensive rules that govern intercollegiate athletics.”

“That means the teams can enlist not just amateur players but a type prohibited in traditional college sports: competitors who already turned pro or made money from gaming, sometimes as teenagers years before college.”

“There’s boatloads of kids out there that want to do this — well, they’re doing it already,” MAC commissioner Jon Steinbrecher said. “And so to have some level of organization that provides for regular competitive opportunities that are well-run, on a regular basis, we think will give our schools a leg up in terms of attracting these students to their campuses.”