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Marietta professor assists on first textbook about business of esports

by Tom Perry

Marietta, Ohio (09/22/2020) — Marietta College's Rick Smith, who has been a driving force behind the addition of esports on campus, recently served as an editor and author on the first textbook focused on the business of esports.

Smith teamed up with David Hedlund (Chairperson of the Division of Sport Management at St. John's University) and Gil Fried (University of New Haven professor) to write and edit Esports Business Management, which is being published by Human Kinetics.

"The industry is growing every day, with billions of dollars being spent in the esport space worldwide," he said. "Esports is a growing segment of the sports industry, and in the next 5-10 years, if not sooner, colleges and universities across the world will be teaching esports management as a course. This textbook will serve as the seminal textbook on the topic."

Smith is in his fifth year as an Assistant Professor of Sport Management in Marietta College's Department of Business and Economics. He has more than 12 years of higher education work experience in various roles, including alumni relations, teaching and collegiate athletics. Smith has earned two master's degrees - one from Seton Hall University School of Law in Intellectual Property and one from the University of Incarnate Word in Sport Management.

Smith said the book gives readers a glimpse of many aspects of the esports industry - stakeholders, governance, marketing and business concerns. The book is targeted to undergraduate college classes that are teaching the business of esports.

For more information: https://US.HumanKinetics.com/products/esports-business-management-with-hkpropel-access.

Located in Marietta, Ohio, at the confluence of the Muskingum and Ohio rivers, Marietta College is a four-year liberal arts college. Tracing its roots to the Muskingum Academy back in 1797, the College was officially chartered in 1835. Today Marietta College serves a body of 1,200 full-time students. The College offers more than 50 majors and is consistently ranked as one of the top regional comprehensive colleges by U.S. News & World Report and The Princeton Review, as well as one of the nation's best by Forbes.com. Marietta was selected seventh in the nation according to the Brookings Institution's rankings of colleges by their highest value added, regardless of major. Marietta College has also been named a Great College to Work For three consecutive years (2018-2020).

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