Emma Nisbet. Past, Present and Future of MSU Esports - On Campus and Off

The rivalry between Mississippi State University and the University of Mississippi has deep roots, spanning over a century. The two are perpetually locked in a sport season-based battle - whether it is on the football field, basketball court or baseball diamond. Not many are aware of yet another place MSU and Ole Miss come together in an annual clash: behind desktop monitors, firing away on rainbow-hued keyboards and clad in headphones.

While Ole Miss is currently on a two-year winning streak against MSU in the football Egg Bowl, MSU holds the same bragging rights and series of victories in the esports version¹ of the famous competition.

The first ever esports Egg Bowl took place on the University of Mississippi’s campus while the following year transferred over to the Humphrey Coliseum at MSU, where President Mark Keenum spoke at the competition, cementing and supporting the organization’s existence.

The term “esports” is simply a shorter way² of saying “electronic sports” and can consist of gamers competing against one another on an individual-basis or as a team - depending on the structure of the video game serving as the main event.

Originally formed as “Esports @ MSU” in 2012, the student organization was named an official club sport³ in 2018 and rebranded as MSU Esports. At the time, the team had been playing many mainstream competitive video games such as Rocket League, Overwatch and League of Legends. Even then, MSU Esports was branching out to other games as well in order to provide a bit more variety, including Fortnite, Hearthstone and Call of Duty.

Esports, as it is known today, has existed for over five decades - almost since the inception of video games themselves. The first documented esports tournament⁴ took place at Stanford University’s Artificial Intelligence Laboratory in 1972. This competition was centered around the 1962 game Spacewar!, which led to the spectacle being dubbed the Intergalactic Spacewar Olympics. The event was sponsored by Rolling Stone and the winner received a year-long subscription to the magazine.

This - as well as the booming popularity of arcade games and at-home consoles - spawned a movement of competitive gaming that has persisted and only grown in the present day. With streaming platforms such as Twitch and YouTube providing audiences the easiest means to watch esports tournaments and their favorite players, the esports industry reached $1 billion in total revenue in 2019 and has only continued in its rising trajectory.

Clearly, football and basketball are not the only billion dollar industries around here.

Additionally, similar to any athletic sport at Mississippi State University and beyond, MSU Esports receives annual support from sponsors such as The Coca-Cola Company and Nvidia.

On its Cowbell Connect⁵ page, MSU Esports advertises itself - first and foremost - as being “committed to cultivating a culture of camaraderie among gamers”. This supports the organization’s origins as a club on campus before being recognized as a sport. With such deep roots in virtual activities and in-person competitions, MSU Esports thrives both online and offline. It has an active Discord⁶ platform with a community exceeding 2,000 members and a Twitch⁷ channel with over 1,400 followers. Discord, the organization’s main means of communication, is not even solely gaming-focused. The platform contains designated channels for things such as pictures of food, academic help and organizing hangouts.

This season, four teams⁸ within MSU Esports have qualified to compete on the largest college-level esports stage in the United States - the National Esports Collegiate Conference. With the “gamertags” emblazoned on the back of their maroon and gold jerseys, they compete with names such as “Flex”, “Panda”, “PepsiTheMan”,“Hylexr” and “Rob”.

Benjamin Maier (“Artemis”), a sophomore aerospace engineering major from Dallas, Texas, is the newly elected MSU Esports president for the 2025-2026 academic year.

Video games have been a crux in Maier’s life for as long as he can remember. However, it was not until 2021 that Maier stepped into the world of competitive games by trying out the immensely popular 5v5 first-person shooter game Valorant, developed and published by Riot Games - the same team behind League of Legends. Prior to this, Maier primarily steered clear of multiplayer video games and focused on singleplayer ones, dubbing himself a “Nintendo-head” through-and-through. Though, Valorant changed his perspective and he now leads MSU Esports as the club’s president.

“That’s the game that made me enjoy esports as a whole and it’s the main game that I still play,” Maier said.

Maier first became involved with MSU Esports in the fall of 2023 where he was a B-Team member for its Valorant team. When the time for the esports Egg Bowl rolled around, rather than competing, Maier assisted with the cameras and other broadcasting work which were some of his “areas of expertise,” according to him. This caught the attention of the Board of Directors for the organization and secured him a role as stream director. The last time MSU hosted the annual Egg Bowl, it was held in McComas Hall Theater and boasted over 150 in-person attendees and over 100 active viewers online.

“I could bring the gameplay and bring the competitive match to the home so that people can watch it and show off our players in masses,” Maier said.

Collegiate esports organizations across the country all have their own unique way of structuring their teams. At MSU, each game the club sport competes in consists of an A-Team and a B-Team. If there are enough players interested in taking part, more sub-teams can be created. For example, due to being a three-player game, MSU Esports’ Rocket League division demands a C-Team and D-Team. Each team consists of a captain elected by the rest of the players each year, following a series of preliminary matches to garner a feeling for how each member works together and who would best naturally fit the role of leader. Several previous MSU Esports members stick around - either virtually or in-person - and adopt coaching roles for the current competitors.

Tryouts are held at the beginning of every semester - spring and fall.

“So it’s not like if you don’t make it one year you have to wait another year,” Maier explained. “People get better in a game very quickly sometimes and we want to make sure that we have the best roster, so we do tryouts semesterly.”

However, being involved with MSU Esports does not necessarily require being a member on one of the teams. There are a variety of casual ways to join MSU Esports, from taking part in its open-door Town Hall meetings to simply using the designated lab within Butler Hall on campus.

“You don’t have to be on the team to be a part of MSU Esports,” Maier encouraged.

As for what MSU Esports currently plays, the organization divides the games they focus their efforts in between traditional, long-standing titles and newer, currently-trending ones. Games such as Overwatch, Rocket League, Counter-Strike and Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Siege are famous and prominent esports games that are not going to fade anytime soon. Rather than removing teams or games from its roster, MSU Esports simply adds to its library.

Titles such as Marvel Rivals, Splatoon, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate and Dead by Daylight which have taken the gaming world by storm were quickly added to MSU Esports' catalogue once the demand for it was strong enough. Each of these games also proves that potential esports games are not restricted only to first-person shooters. These efforts are being made to reach as wide of a gaming audience as possible and appeal to everyone’s tastes and preferences.

“We’re absolutely expanding our horizon when it comes to esports titles and stuff that you wouldn’t think would be an esports title,” Maier said.

Email me at edn80@msstate.edu with any questions.

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