SJCryptic

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Should Pros Be Allowed in Collegiate Esports? Let’s Set the Record Straight w/ @SJCrypticTTV x.com/i/broadcasts/1…

@Santa_Gragas I'm sorry, I'm a little confused with how you've phrased this. Are you saying that I believe that the industry caters to the top? Or would you like that to be a topic for CEN?

@SJCrypticTTV I hear you think we as an industry have been catering to the top vs focusing on things like accessibility and capitalization which are larger issues within our industry.

I love CEN, it isn't their fault but this conversation has been beat to death and its not that interesting. I promise there are more pressing and interesting matters that impact more than the 15-20 schools this actually effect.

@TheParadoxMuse @CollegeENews If you could DM me on Discord: SJCryptic, I'll for sure hit you up next time we do pieces like this!

@SJCrypticTTV @CollegeENews Still a great piece and realistically I have a similar stance to Dan which was covered Still would have been a good addition - if you guys ever want I’m happy to contribute to CEN

🚨 NEW READ 📰 Should pros be allowed in collegiate esports? As the community debates, @SJCrypticTTV explores the arguments. ✍️ @SJCrypticTTV collegeesportsnews.org/2025/12/01/sho…

@owaisicle Totally agree! Leaving it to the leagues makes the most sense to me (and then choosing the league you think has the policy that you like the best), but even then, it'd get tricky.

It’s always what’s rubbed me wrong about the discussion; people claim they want to remove pros but there’s no consensus on what a pro even is. From what you mentioned, to maybe qualifying for 1 single RLCS Main Event or even qualifying for ALGS PL but being dropped from the roster, or even signing to an org, where is the line and who determines it? It’s an esports problem especially since different games have different formats, different communities have different views, which is why I think the day people can agree on what’s considered pro is the day collegiate esports will actually see change in regards to the pros vs no pros debate. great writeup btw! 🤝

Always a great read. The *only* thing I didn’t see mentioned (unless I missed it) was what even qualifies / determines someone being a “pro?” I think that will forever be the most contentious point and why everything else that was discussed won’t fall into place (at least yet)

My income went down from a lot to $0/yr (taking a career break), yet my insurance through @HealthCareGov is going up 40%? Insanity

@Brewerdog3 What would you define as "pro?"

I think former pros should be allowed into college esports They shouldn't get scholarships however

@TheParadoxMuse @CollegeENews Hi Aaron, this piece was more about the discussion on X about pros being able to play rather than the individual situation. I tried to be as neutral with the situation as possible, just representing what others were saying.

@CollegeENews @SJCrypticTTV Would have been cool to consult Fisher’s perspective 🤷‍♂️ - still a good read

@FeederDiff @TheParadoxMuse @CollegeENews It's not! It's a collection of the thoughts of industry leaders and general thoughts on X. I thought I did a pretty good job of not letting my opinion show, haha. What would you think I believe?

@TheParadoxMuse @CollegeENews @SJCrypticTTV They didn't consult my perspective either I think it's just an opinion piece by the author

@Jsmeth_ Not necessarily the champion, but I get what you mean.

@SJCrypticTTV That's functionally what I was trying to say. The "champion" of each league would get a bid to CECC was what I was meaning to say.

We may argue for days on twitter about too many leagues and whatnot. Meanwhile virtually every league signed on to let CECC host their champions. This image alone should probably be a sign that the SEC needs to simply sit down and set a schedule for next year.

@FatcattLoL @CoachAntor Ya, honestly, only a handful of these leagues have an official partnership with CECC. Most just have a bid to the tournament.

@SJCrypticTTV @CoachAntor The more I’m reading about this the more it seems that a lot of these conferences had SSBU bids which admittedly I am the most distanced from. Thank you for the update!

Look at all these groups supporting a company that exploits students by not paying those who work their events and use view botting to artificially inflate the expectations for non-endemic companies, which ultimately hurts all of us.

@FatcattLoL @CoachAntor The Big 12 last year had a tournament for an SSBU slot. Allegedly, it was semi-endorsed by the Big 12, but I'm not sure how true that is.

@CoachAntor Have seen/heard that not all of these groups agreed to this. Like the big 12 is super random and they don’t have anything for esports iirc Also this

Anyone have any stories that they think @CollegeENews should cover? I have capacity for a few pieces, and I want to know what people want to see. Can cover leagues, teams, players, or broader collegiate esports. DM me on Discord: SJCryptic or comment on here! TY!

📰 NEW READ 🚨 The Fall 2025 registration numbers are in... Alex Niall takes you through which league & game are dominating the scene this semester versus previous semesters. ✍️ Alex Niall 🎨 Info from @SquirtisMv07 collegeesportsnews.org/2025/10/24/fal…

📰 NEW READ 🚨 Has the @WinthropEsports VCT Ascension run legitimized the collegiate path-to-pro? Check it out below ⬇️ ✍️ Alex Niall collegeesportsnews.org/2025/11/05/win…

The Comets' new facility is out of this world! ☄️ Check out @UTDEsports Comets LANding - an $18 million dollar two-story facility equipped with over 100 PCs, an event space, production room, and more! Let us know what space we should cover next. 👀