Fresno State makes history and officially joins the rest of the Mountain West in the realm of esports.

On Jan. 25, head coach Tommy Lee and his League of Legends (LOL) varsity team competed in the first eSports match in Fresno State history. 

The newly formed Bulldogs team competed against UNLV 8-Bit eSports, however, came up short losing the match 2-0.

Although the team was shutout, Lee was proud of how well his team performed. 

“I was superproud,” Lee said. “They were hitting on things they didn’t even know at the start.” 

For the inaugural game in school history, everything ranging from equipment to production ran smoothly. 

Fresno State team captain Noah “Chunkmonkey50” Martinez said there were no issues during his time on the gaming setups.

“The setup here is great. These computers are awesome. There are no latency issues, nothing whatsoever, including the chairs,” Martinez said. “The chairs are far better than what I have at home.” 

On the production side, the match was streamed live on the Fresno State eSports Twitch channel and ran well for being produced by one person. 

A total of 28 peak concurrent viewers were watching the match at one point, even with little to no social media push from any of Fresno State’s social media to show the match was live.

Before the team began, Lee made sure to calm down his members, telling them to remember to “just have fun” and “take in this moment.”

Martinez said Lee really explained the gravity of the moment.

“It’s really surreal. Just before the game [Lee] was telling us how big this is, how influential and how big of a deal for us to play in the first-ever match,” Martinez said. “It’s really humbling to be a part of something that is bigger than yourself.” 

Once the team got going, everything it had worked on over the past three months was on display. Lee’s excitement was visible as the team inched closer and closer to victory in the first game of the series. He was constantly pacing and jumping with excitement when he saw his players work together to pick off UNLV players.

Yet, one crucial mistake gave the Runnin’ Rebels the first game and killed the mood for the rest of the night for the Bulldogs.

Signs of life seemed completely gone once the second game had begun. A once communicative room turned into a quiet, somber one.

Lee did not sugarcoat anything once the Runnin’ Rebels had won. Lee quickly became more critical and was not afraid to point out the mistakes the Bulldogs made. Lee showed that even though it’s fun and games, he still wants the best out of his team. 

“Being able to see what their potential is and where they can hit is absolutely insane,” Lee said. “I’m just excited to see where they are going to go because I think they are going to go really far, even though they might not believe it.”

The “official” unveiling of both the League of Legends roster and Overwatch roster will take place at the esports launch party on Feb. 3 in the University Student Union’s bottom level.

The festivities will begin at 10 a.m., starting with speeches from Fresno State President Dr. Joseph Castro’s cabinet, members of Student Affairs and Enrollment Management and more beginning at 11 a.m.