‘Champa Bay’ adds billion-dollar E-Sports industry to its resume

TAMPA, Fla. - Once just a way to play with friends, today video games and the larger E-sports world are major players in the entertainment industry. It's an industry, USF grad students like Luis Cardozo see themselves working in one day. 

"I think there's a lot of opportunities especially with partnerships these days for E-sports teams they're trying to bring the business side, this is what we do here," explained Luis Cardozo. 

On Thursday, USF, which has one of the Top E-Sports programs in the country, held an "E-Sports Summit," a way to bring students, industry leaders and the like all under one roof. 

"When you talk about E-Sports they're able to do everything, everything is connected," Cardozo said.  

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As if the Bay Area doesn't have enough accolades already, you can add a growing E-sports hub to its resume.

"Tampa is definitely on the rise in the gaming industry," said graduate student Chase Crist. It is the fastest-growing industry in the world. Right now it is a billion-dollar industry," Crist said. 

The future is online and through programs like these, USF students are getting ahead of the game. 

"It is a great community to be a part of there's a lot of future in the industry," Crist said.