Collegiate Esports Travels into New Era
Unified 4/28/2023
Unified’s traveling Midwest Esports Conference is preparing for its biggest season yet heading into the 2023-2024 School Year. WICHITA, KANSAS, UNITED STATES, April 28, 2023 -- Unified is hosting their fifth season of the Midwest Esports Conference (MEC) this upcoming 2023-2024 school year, and it is set to be their biggest season yet. Traditionally, the Midwest Esports Conference has been a partnered League of Legends conference with the RSAA (Riot Scholastic Association of America) that has offered a live event experience for students to compete on stage, and a chance for both student athletes and community members to come out and play a multitude of game titles. ### About Unified About Midwest Esports Conference About AVDG
"It's really cool to be able to see all these players and network with all of them. I know some players on every single team, everyone's super friendly, it's good competition you know, you get to play against really tough opponents but at the end of the day you can look at each other and give them a high five or a handshake, laugh at each other--it's great." said Tristan Fissette, a senior in Illinois College's esports program.
During the spring 2023 season, the MEC hosted the following eight institutions:
Ottawa and Grand View both qualified for the Collegiate National Championship for League of Legends. After advancing in the first round, Ottawa will be playing this upcoming weekend against Fisher College in the Round of 16.
This season, Unified partnered with Audio Visual Design Group (AVDG) to power the conference's live events and online broadcasts. "AVDG is thrilled to be sponsoring Unified's esports tournament and to be a part of the growing esports community. Esports is an exciting and rapidly evolving industry, and we're excited to be a part of its growth and success. This sponsorship allows us to showcase our commitment to innovation and technology, and to support a community of passionate gamers who share our values," said Curtis Heath, Vice President, Business Solutions (AVDG).
For this upcoming school year, the conference is expanding to offer several additional titles beyond League of Legends. This will provide more opportunities for schools to be a part of the conference and give their students a taste of Midwest competition combined with Unified’s LAN opportunities.
This fall will feature two LAN tournaments hosted at campuses across the Midwest on September 16-17th and November 11-12th; venue locations will be announced in the coming weeks.
While this expansion provides a great opportunity for collegiate esports, it also serves as an opportunity for the youth esports athletes and gaming communities in each region. The LANs not only offer higher levels of competition but also cater to a general gaming audience with the Quest System Unified has implemented. “Quests” allow for gamers of all skill levels to come out with their friends and families to have a fun weekend playing video games while earning prizes, learning what esports has to offer, and spectating collegiate competition.
To learn more about the Midwest Esports Conference, visit unified.gg/mec. Esports Coaches or Directors are invited to complete the 2023-2023 Interest Survey to find out if the conference is a good fit for their program.
Unified is a Kansas-based company that oversees multiple products that specialize and operate as a dynamic pipeline within the esports industry. Founded as “Wichita Esports” in 2015, the company has expanded its offerings to better serve a national audience. Unified has built a pipeline for growth that reaches from youth and hobbyist players to collegiate and semi-professionals. Through their partnerships at both the game publisher level as well as working directly with the communities they serve, Unified empowers aspiring champions and supports the esports ecosystem by providing high-quality professional services in production, competition, events, and scholastic.
The Midwest Esports Conference (MEC) is a collegiate esports league featuring teams from universities and colleges across the Midwest United States. MEC organizes and hosts regular season matches and playoffs for several popular esports titles. The league provides a competitive platform for student-athletes to showcase their skills in a rapidly growing industry and promote esports as a legitimate collegiate sport. With a focus on promoting sportsmanship, teamwork, and academic success, the MEC is committed to advancing the growth of esports in the Midwest and beyond.
AVDG is a leading nationwide commercial and residential smart-system integrator. Spanning from coast to coast, AVDG is able to meticulously design and engineer systems, provide expert technology design services, professional installation, and world-class service across the U.S. Through distinctive designs, AVDG pioneers technology to empower end-users to operate systems effortlessly, improve connectivity, and position their investment for maximum, long-term success. AVDG maintains and secures the success of their technologies through their extensive Simplicity service division that works continuously to monitor, adjust, and prevent system errors.
