Saint Peter’s launching e-sports specialty for business students

Saint Peter’s University is getting involved in the growing field of online gaming, starting an e-sports specialization for students in the college’s School of Business.

The specialization in organized, competitive video gaming has the potential to help students break into the field through paths including content, production, finance and legal, and more, the Jersey City university said in a news release.

“The e-sports field is booming, as it has officially become a billion-dollar industry in 2018,” Mary Kate Naatus, KPMG Dean of the School of Business at Saint Peter’s, said in a prepared statement. “We developed the e-sports specialization to enable our business school graduates to take advantage of the opportunities that are available in this growing industry.”

The specialization emphasizes the business side of the field, and will become available to students pursuing bachelor’s degrees in business and sports management starting in the fall of 2019.

“We are proud to be among the thought leaders that are generating global awareness of this exciting and evolving industry,” Saint Peter’s President Eugene J. Cornacchia said in a statement. “We are collaborating with e-sports advisers as our academic partners to ensure we are building a sustainable educational program to prepare future leaders in this field.”

Saint Peter’s also offers an e-sports intramural program, as a member of the Eastern College Athletic Conference; two of its teams qualified for postseason play.