A breakthrough phenomenon has gone mainstream
More millennial males watch esports than baseball and hockey
Has any sport ever gained popularity so fast? At a compounded annual growth rate exceeding 15%, the global esports audience will surpass half a billion within two years1. More than 1,500 secondary schools now officially support esports with varsity programs. Most likely, a significant percentage of your student body already plays and cheers esports.
The opportunity for high school leaders
Include diverse participants, enhance your curricula, save money, and open doors for your students
Coaches and administrators like you can ride this wave of popularity.
Gamers aren't social outcasts in need of direction. They're artists, athletes, debaters, and straight-A high achievers. They're your student body, straddling every blurring boundary of gender, ethnicity, and socioeconomic origin.
Esports influences and draws from a diversity of academic subjects, including broadcasting, marketing, event planning, network support, game coding, media production, and more.
Colleges offer esports scholarships and majors. Employers look for candidates who can demonstrate success in connecting them with younger audiences.
Getting started can be as easy as six gaming computers and a small space in your school. Compare esports to traditional sports and tally up the cost of equipment, insurance, and travel (not necessary with esports) and the economic benefits materialize.
Support passionate, diverse, and inclusive student communities, and give your student-athletes a competitive edge.
Learn how you can provide academic classes and real-world project-based learning on a topic proven to motivate these students.
Questions to consider before starting
What are your students' preferred games?
Popular esports titles include:
- Overwatch®
- League of Legends®
- Rocket League®
- Hearthstone®
What is your district's tolerance of animated violence?
Determine if any of the popular titles are off limits in your district.
Will you have a dedicated practice space?
Desktop PCs are generally best but can be replaced by laptops if you will need to move and lock up the equipment between sessions.
Will the PCs be used solely for esports?
A few configuration tweaks can make an esports PC work well for video editing, Photoshop, CAD applications and more.
Esports at your school is within reach. Start small with a practice facility, build the team's popularity at your school, and demonstrate its success to stakeholders.
Anatomy of a gaming station
The overriding goal of a gaming system is to boost the player's reaction time by displaying the most frames per second (FPS). The following play important roles.
The single most important component of a gaming PC is the graphics card. A faster graphics card delivers higher frame rates. Higher frame rates let you see things earlier and give you a better chance of hitting your target. To be competitive, we recommend a minimum of 144 FPS powered by an NVIDIA® GeForce® RTX™ 2080. #FramesWinGames
The current standard is the 9th Gen Intel® Core™ i7. However, if the PCs are solely used for gaming, you may be able to go with an i5 and save money without sacrificing performance.
We recommend 16 GB. Anything less slows performance. Anything more may be overkill.
We recommend a moderate size for the primary boot device. Supplement with a larger SATA HDD for storage.
OMEN Gaming Displays with NVIDIA® G-SYNC™ technology are made to compete, giving you a high refresh rate up to 240 Hz that's smooth and tear-free. With sub 1 millisecond response and stunning image quality, they'll change the way you look at competitive gaming.
Equip your players to compete and win
We play to progress
Give your athletes the advantage with cutting-edge OMEN PCs powered by NVIDIA® GeForce® graphics.
OMEN and NVIDIA® champion gaming and gamers, supporting them as they progress. OMEN PCs, purpose-built for the best gaming experience, are used in professional esports leagues and LAN centers worldwide. NVIDIA® GeForce® is the GPU of choice for professional gamers at major esports tournaments.
Our diverse products and services help all gamers play better. Because OMEN is made by HP, you can count on the highest quality standards and sustainable manufacturing processes.
Don't go it alone
We're here to help with expert advice and special education pricing
Gaming technology is evolving as fast as the sport's popularity. Invest wisely with expert know-how.
The OMEN for Education team offers free consultations to ensure your students hit the ground running. We've got you covered to launch a successful esports program, with advice on…
We can help you choose among wireless or wired connections, dedicated or shared pipeline.
We can help configure a system built specifically to meet your needs.
We can help determine varsity team, practice squad, coaching station, and broadcast capabilities.
We can help with power requirements, station layout, and more.
We can help extend your investment in PCs to do more: Photoshop, CAD, 3D fabrication, video editing, and more.
We can help overcome objections to certain titles and find the best fit for your program.
and so much more...
Also, if you purchase OMEN PCs powered by NVIDIA® GeForce® graphics, special education discounts can stretch your funding. We can tailor a package to suit your budget with premium G-SYNC™ displays, pro-quality accessories, affordable gaming keyboards and mice, and more.
Additional resources
White Papers
High School Athletics Association
Product Links
Contact your dedicated OMEN team at
OMENSLED@HP.com.
1Source: Newzoo 2018 Global Esports Market Report
