August 23 2024 at 3:39 PM | NJ Pathways

NJ Pathways Project Highlight: Esports Production Content Creation Hub Pathway Pilot

Center of Workforce Innovation for Film & TV Production 

A new Esports career pathway – Esports Production & Content Creation – requires academic programming that has a variety of entry and exit points with career opportunities and advancement opportunities. Using esports as a “vessel” to these emerging job opportunities of tomorrow, the NJ Pathways pilot project in Esports Production/Content Creation was designed to prepare students by providing workforce pathways and transferable skills through academic programming connected to esports production that build opportunities to sustainable wages available to participants as they navigate the pathway.  

The primary component is to provide the skill set to support streamed Esports events – live or pre-recorded – that look and feel like traditional sports broadcasts.  These events are surrounded with pre-game analysis, in game play-by-play and post-game breakdowns and interviews. These events require the same skills used in related industries such as film and television, marketing, social media influencing, cybersecurity, data analytics, hospitality and event management. 

The project included the following partners: 

  • Industry 
  • Horizon AVL Esports Integration 
  • K-12 
  • Cherry Hill School District (Cherry Hill East & West) 
  • Sterling Regional High School 
  • Higher Education 
  • Stockton University 
  • Rutgers University – Camden 
  • Community Organizations 
  • The Salvation Army – Kroc Center Camden 
  • Volunteers of America – Delaware Valley 

 

Highlights of the pilot project included: 

  • Establishing and aligning the industry-recognized certifications connected to esports to be embedded into credit and non-credit coursework. 
  • Working with secondary institutions to explore esports-related curricula and dual enrollment opportunities. 
  • Working with four-year partners to explore articulation agreements for the existing ESP.AAS degree at Camden County College.  The nation’s first esports production articulation agreement was signed between Camden County College and Stockton University on November 1, 2023. 
  • Creating esports production-related experiential learning opportunities through the creation of the “Garden State Esports “South Jersey Collegiate Cup” – the first traveling in-person intercollegiate esports league in the nation. The emphasis of these league events was on production and content creation with high school, community college and 4-year university students assisted with the stream production.  These league events led to over 1,000 K-12 high school, community college and 4-year university students being able to experience esports production firsthand.