College transitions to university with help from esports program growth

“Spectrum Enterprise is our sole internet service provider for esports, which in turn has been pivotal in our school’s transition from a college to a university.” 

– Mark Alicea, Head Coach for esports, D'Youville University

In less than three years, D’Youville University in Buffalo, New York has gone from hosting a few eager gamers to developing one of the most dynamic esports programs in the country. The esports wave has been transforming college athletics; with Spectrum Enterprise providing its connectivity, D’Youville is committed to not missing out.

“It just showcases where we want to go, being an innovative university,” says Joseph Gunnells, Chief Information Officer at D’Youville University.

Eager to get its esports program going quickly, D’Youville pursued an aggressive connectivity strategy. The request made to Spectrum Enterprise Sales Manager Justin Niebel in 2020 was daunting. Instead of completing a Dedicated Fiber Internet (DFI) install in 120 days, D’Youville needed it done in just 60 days so the program could hit the ground running. Niebel made it happen.

D’Youville University students are now able to compete against top programs at several major universities by leveraging the speed and capacity of their Spectrum Enterprise connectivity. Connectivity is also critical to the remote learning program at D’Youville, which has contributed not only to the school’s achievement of university status but its continued rise in student enrollment year-over-year.

D’Youville has used Spectrum Enterprise to supply television service across their campus for many years. Today’s students want more. More channels, more control, and more ways in which to view video content. Students today expect TV to keep up with their busy lifestyle. To meet this challenge, D’Youville University counts on Spectrum U TV.

SpectrumU gives colleges and universities the ability to stream video content from over 200 channels on personal devices anywhere on campus, and access up to 80 TV channel apps. “SpectrumU has been huge for us,” Gunnells notes.