New high-tech Esports Lab opens its doors in Salford

A new Esports Lab has opened its doors in Salford to help students launch their careers in the ‘rapidly expanding’ esports sector.

The innovative Lab, which opened today (August 1), has been built for students completing the University of Salford’s and Greater Manchester Institute of Technology’s (GMIoT) Higher National Diploma (HND) Esports Business Management programme.

It’s been designed to support students looking to pave the way in the ‘rapidly expanding and innovative sector’.

The Lab is equipped with a tournament arena, industry grade broadcasting equipment, including Blackmagic 4K cameras and television studio mixers, plus an esports suite for teaching, learning and gaming.

In addition, the Lab has 23 Yoyotech i9 RTX Esports Gaming PCs with Intel i9 Processors and NVIDIA RTX 4080 Super graphics cards, amongst other industry leading technology. The Lab’s teaching and six seat tournament space has been designed to accommodate broadcasting and competitions, while its Formula 1 licensed racing simulator resembles the very technology drivers themselves use to prepare for the tracks.

According to Uswitch, the global esports market is expected to generate £3.41 billion in revenue this year. With a compound annual growth rate of 7.1 per cent, this figure is forecast to reach £4.52 billion by 2028.

To add to this, as of 2024, around 11.7 per cent of the world’s population is estimated to participate in the esports market, equating to almost 948 million people worldwide.

Iain Earle, Program Leader for Esports Business Management at Salford Business School, comments: “There’s no doubt that esports is a thriving industry. Whilst once seen as a hobby for many, in recent years it’s been transformed into one of the biggest entertainment markets on the planet. It’s now worth billions, making it not only a viable career route, but an incredibly lucrative one at that.

“Esports is a rapidly growing and ever-evolving sector so, with the latest cutting edge technology integrated into the Lab, we have made a considerable investment to really elevate our student experience in this space, while ensuring access to industry grade equipment.

“Salford is now home to higher education’s leading Esports Lab which will be instrumental in ensuring our students have been fully immersed in the latest technology disrupting the sector, as they progress into their graduate careers.”