Tennessee Should Treat Gaming and Esports as a Workforce Opportunity

For too long, gaming has been treated as a distraction from education or a hobby students should eventually outgrow. That view no longer reflects the world our students are entering.

Gaming is now a major economic and technological force. A 2026 report from the Entertainment Software Association found that the U.S. video game industry generated or supported nearly $96 billion in economic activity and more than 250,000 jobs in 2025. Those jobs extend far beyond professional players. The industry depends on software developers, cybersecurity specialists, network engineers, graphic designers, animators, sound engineers, broadcasters, marketers, event producers and business professionals.

Tennessee should be preparing students to compete for them.

As president of Motlow State Community College, I lead an institution serving more than 7,000 students across 4,500 square miles and 11 counties. Our responsibility is not only to help students earn a degree. It is to recognize where the economy is headed and create pathways that connect students to those opportunities.

Esports can be one of those pathways.

A student who joins an esports program may arrive because they enjoy competing. Along the way, they can learn how to operate a broadcast, analyze performance data, troubleshoot hardware, manage a team, produce digital content or organize an event. They also develop skills employers consistently value: communication, collaboration, strategic thinking and the ability to perform under pressure.

Even students who never pursue a career in professional esports can carry those experiences into growing technical and creative fields. The same interests that draw a student to gaming can lead to a career in software development, information technology, cybersecurity, digital media or advanced computing.

At Motlow State, we see how gaming can connect students who might otherwise never meet. A student in Fayetteville can compete alongside a student in Smyrna as if they were in the same room. Through communications platforms like Discord, students coordinate practices, review gameplay, solve technical problems and build teams across campuses and schedules. That is not separate from career preparation. It reflects the way many modern workplaces already operate: people with different responsibilities collaborating through shared digital spaces toward a common goal.

Tennessee has already shown that it can attract gaming investment. In 2022, state officials announced that video game developer Iron Galaxy Studios would establish a Nashville location, bringing an expected 108 technology jobs. We should build on that momentum by developing more of the talent those employers need here at home.

That means investing in esports facilities and programs, but it cannot stop there. Colleges should connect esports with academic programs in computer science, cybersecurity, broadcasting, graphic design, marketing and business. Students should have access to internships, industry credentials, mentorship and hands-on experience using the technology that powers gaming and live competition. Schools, employers and economic-development leaders should work together to create clear pathways from a student’s interest in gaming to a sustainable career.

Community colleges are especially well positioned to lead this work. We move quickly, maintain close relationships with local employers and serve students who may not have access to specialized programs elsewhere. We can help ensure that careers connected to gaming are not limited to students in major cities or those who can afford a four-year residential college.

The question is no longer whether gaming belongs in education. It is whether folks in our state will recognize the workforce growing around it and prepare students to take part.

Other states are competing for technology companies, creative talent and the jobs that follow. Tennessee should make clear that we intend to compete, too. By investing in gaming, esports and the many career pathways surrounding them, we can turn an interest shared by millions of young people into an engine for education, innovation and economic growth.

The gaming industry offers Tennessee another opportunity to turn the ingenuity, creativity, and entrepreneurial spirit of its people into economic opportunity. We make things here. We build things here. That same spirit can shape the next generation of games, simulations, and immersive experiences—expanding how we learn, train, create, and solve problems through play.

Michael Torrence, Ph.D. serves as the President of Motlow State Community College.