National Association of Collegiate Esports

The National Association of Collegiate Esports (NACE) is a nonprofit membership association organized by and on behalf of our member institutions. Together, our members are developing the structure and tools needed to advance collegiate esports in the varsity space. We are collaborating to lay the groundwork in areas such as: Eligibility, Path to Graduation, and Competition & Scholarships. NACE is the largest member association of varsity esports programs at colleges and universities across the U.S.

NACE officially formed on July 28, 2016 at the first ever Collegiate Esports Summit held in Kansas City, MO. At that time only seven colleges and universities had varsity esports programs. Since then a rapidly growing number of institutions have launched varsity programming, with a current count of 170+ institutions. As of June 2019, over 94% of all varsity esports programs in the U.S. are members of NACE with an ever increasing number of schools exploring esports.