Competitive gaming, treated as a serious pathway.
We lead the UM Esports program, advise other institutions building their own, and help design the curriculum that connects competitive gaming to careers in game design, media, and tech.
Built from the ground up.
UM Esports is the University of Montana's collegiate esports program — competitive teams, dedicated facilities, and a structured pathway that connects competition to academic programs in game design and interactive media.
Michael founded the program and serves as its Director. That means everything from team operations and recruiting to facility design, partnerships, and aligning the program with academic outcomes that matter to students and parents.
The program treats esports the way good athletic programs treat any sport: as a serious commitment with serious educational value. Competitive play, yes — but also leadership, broadcasting, event production, coaching, and the career paths that emerge around all of it.
Esports program consulting
If you're a school, college, or organization thinking about starting or expanding an esports program, we've made most of the mistakes already — and figured out which ones were worth making.
Program design & launch
From mission and structure to titles, team composition, governance, and how the program sits inside your existing institution. The decisions that are hard to change later.
Facilities & equipment
What you actually need to spend money on, what you don't, and how to design a space that works for both daily practice and event-day production.
Academic integration
Connecting the program to courses, majors, and career outcomes — so esports isn't just a club, it's a pathway. This is where most programs leave value on the table.
Recruiting & retention
How to find players, what to offer them, and how to keep a roster intact across the inevitable churn of a college program.
Operations & coaching
Team operations, practice structures, league participation, conduct policies, and the unglamorous infrastructure that keeps a program functional.
Broadcast & events
Production, streaming, casting, hosting tournaments. The student-facing skill development that makes esports a career feeder, not just a competition.
Game design & esports as career pathways.
Esports works best inside a school when it's connected to actual academic programs — game design, interactive media, broadcasting, business of sports, computer science. Otherwise it's a hobby with a budget.
Michael's day job is exactly this integration: Associate Professor of Game Design and Interactive Media at UM, where the esports program connects directly to coursework, capstone projects, and industry pathways for students who want a career in or around games.
For partner institutions, we help map your existing programs to esports-adjacent careers, identify gaps, and design curriculum that gives students more than a team jersey.