Staten Island, NY – The fastest growing sport in the world has arrived at Wagner College. In a campus-wide collaboration between the athletic department and information technology, the Seahawks will add an esports program beginning in the fall of 2019.
 
"We are excited to add esports to the Wagner College family to set us up for the future of intercollegiate competition," said Wagner athletic director Walt Hameline. "Competitive gaming is a growing industry that will offer an increasing number of students an opportunity to excel in the arena and beyond."
 
Wagner will compete in the National Association of Collegiate Esports, the country's most prominent organization dedicated to competitive collegiate video gaming, where the Seahawks will compete in the games Overwatch, Hearthstone, League of Legends, and Fortnite.
 
"We are very excited to be adding Wagner College as a member of NACE," NACE's Executive Director Michael Brooks added. "Wagner is a highly respected institution and a great addition to the varsity esports community. Everyone here at NACE is looking forward to working with the staff and players for Wagner College. They are helping pave the way for more private, liberal arts colleges to dive into esports."
 
Wagner becomes one of only a handful of schools in New York to field an esports program and joins a list of more than 60 institutions nationwide that offer competitive gaming.
 
In order to guarantee an ideal competitive environment, Wagner will have a dedicated esports arena for daily practice, meetings, and intercollegiate competition.
The newly created esports program will include partnerships with sponsors and creative technology companies to enable student-athletes to compete with state-of-the-art equipment and at the highest level.
Interested student-athletes can fill out a recruit questionnaire here.