VANCOUVER, BC – When Canadian university sports return this fall, it won’t just be on the field, court and ice. On Tuesday, U SPORTS announced a three-year partnership with CSL Gaming and the creation of U SPORTS Gaming. 

CSL Esports is Canada’s largest collegiate sports league, with 22 U SPORTS member schools already playing in their various leagues. With the partnership with U SPORTS, student-gamers will compete under the U SPORTS banner alongside their non-digital counterparts. 

CSL ESports recently announced a partnership with the National Association of Collegiate Esports (NACE) and other industry leaders (Nerd Street, Mainline) to establish the NACE Starleague, which will become the largest collegiate eSports league in North America with over 14,500 students from 600 colleges and universities.

“We are excited to form this unique partnership with CSL Esports and launch an initiative that is the first of its kind in our history, said interim U SPORTS CEO Dick White in a press release. “U SPORTS Gaming will expand the programming offered by our members beyond traditional sports competition, while also creating additional opportunities for engagement on campus beyond our 14,000 student-athletes in a rapidly-growing and cutting-edge industry.”

The gaming organization currently runs competitions in CS: Go, Dota 2, Rocket League, Street Fighter V, League of Legends, Overwatch, Fortnight, EA Madden, NBA 2K, EA NHL, Valorant and Gears. However, there has been no announcement on what games will be a part of U SPORTS Gaming. 

U SPORTS Gaming will kick off soon, with a preliminary event in the summer of 2021 and a full competition beginning in the fall, alongside traditional athletics.

Cover Photo: U SPORTS