League of Legends players can vie for 20 scholarships this fall at a Kentucky university

This fall at the University of Pikeville in Kentucky, at least 20 scholarships will be available for the university's newest varsity sport, League of Legends, director of new media Bruce Parsons told WYMT.

The upcoming eSports program will mirror existing, traditional athletic programs.

"It will be a regime a lot like athletics," Parsons said. "They'll have to have a certain GPA. We'll look at them like student athletes. There will be practice time and video time when they have to study other teams for upcoming competitions."

Late last year, Collegiate StarLeague head Duran Parsi told the New York Times that the organization is active at 450 schools.

"I think there are going to be a lot of students, both nationwide and international, who are going to look at our university who wouldn't have before," Parsons said.

Last year, Robert Morris University-Illinois became the first U.S. college to add eSports to its athletics program. Be sure to read our interview with associate athletic director Kurt Melcher to learn more.