Officially announced in February of 2021, the Gaming and Event Center and Digital Certificate Program aimed to give UNC Greensboro students the opportunity to tap more deeply into gaming as its popularity continued to surge throughout the years, not just as a hobby, but as an industry. North Carolina State Representative Jason Saine, the Senior Chairman of the NC House Appropriations Committee, granted UNCG a budget of over $2.4 million for “operating, equipment, technology, marketing, and programming costs,” allowing them the opportunity to establish the facility.
UNC Greensboro officially opened the state-of-the-art Esports Arena on April 25, 2022. Alongside the space for students to connect and spend more thoughtful time together through a shared passion for digital gaming, the Esports Arena offers a wider variety of career opportunities for hundreds of students with different backgrounds.
It established a home for the Gaming and Esports Club, an organization founded in 2011 with over 100 members, who before met in student dorm rooms to play video games such as Super Smash Bros, League of Legends, and Overwatch. Open 12 hours a day, the Esports Arena opened in Moran Commons and was built with 3,300 square feet of space; 48 PCs with 12 on a competition platform where games could be live-streamed; four gaming console bays; “Respawn” chairs; and an Oculus Rift VR headset.
Entry by AJ Bly, 2025-2026 Humanities at Work intern