A resolution to provide Marshall’s Esports Club Association with additional funds and work toward building an esports arena in the future was recently presented to the Student Government Association.

Currently, Marshall’s esports club has over 600 members on the Discord server, according to Kev Bryant, the director of competitive affairs for ECA. Senators were surprised that fifty members of the club attended the meeting in support of the resolution passing. 

The resolution asks to allocate $1 million over the span of three to five years so the ECA can have a dedicated space to practice. The resolution also  aims to offer scholarships related to the club to prospective students. 

“I know that Ohio State University is something truly special – $26 million invested into that space. I know that Marshall is not Ohio State,” Bryant said. “What we need is a space that will allow for the growth of this, which is at an unprecedented scale for Marshall’s history.”

Bryant attended Ohio State University and was a member of their esports club. 

Senator Nico Raffinengo wrote the resolution after seeing what the club’s space currently is like. 

“It’s very scrappy and kind of just whatever that they’re able to get with their own money,” Raffinengo said. “Most of them bring their own tech, resources and hold money specifically to run the organization – their growth – because they’re growing the university with tuition numbers.” 

The resolution was then discussed by the senate after that, with the first question coming from Student Government Association President Bella Griffiths, who asked where the money will come from. Raffinengo responded by saying the money would come from the miscellaneous fund or the university would allocate funds to the project. 

Caleb Patrick, the president of ECA and co-founder said, “The university will be tearing down Laidley Hall and building an advanced technology center; we’ve reached out to the project lead on that. And what we want to do is establish a space there for anything esports related.”

Following the discussion, the resolution was changed due to budget and time constraints. 

Matt James, director of alumni relations and advisor to SGA, said “We have to understand the university’s deficit right now with enrollment down, so there’s not a pot of money. My suggestion is maybe to remove that amount from the resolution.” 

After the time constraints and budget were removed from the resolution, it  was passed. From this point, it will be presented to the board of governors. 

After the meeting, Raffinengo said, “The resolution passed but with some changes which can be both good and bad, depending on the situation. Now that it doesn’t have a set-in-stone funding cap, maybe we’ll get more funding now.”