Fisher College gets varsity esports team

Fisher College launched a varsity esports program this semester, becoming the sole fully supported competitive team in Boston, esports director Bryan Hummel says.

Driving the news: Fisher plans to introduce its varsity members today at 11am on campus. They include a Call of Duty world champion and other nationally ranked gamers.

• The program has 85 competitors and 15 members in production and management, overseen by Hummel and assistant director Aaron Colaiacomo, who joined from Bay State College.

What they're saying: "As a small college, you've got to be innovative and this is a way for us to be innovative, just like when we added online or athletics or any other thing to grow our mission and satisfy our student body," Fisher College president Steve Rich tells Axios.

The big picture: College esports has grown popular nationwide. More than 40,000 student gamers across hundreds of colleges compete in the sport.

• MIT offers competitive esports as an intramural sport, but other institutions have varsity esports largely led by students, including Northeastern University in Boston.

Zoom in: Fisher's officials invested hundreds of thousands of dollars to start up the program, hiring coaches for various teams.

• The college also funded student scholarships, added a travel budget, leased gaming computers and bought other equipment to power their space.