Griffon Esports raises money with 24-hour livestream
Oct. 26—The Missouri Western State University esports program is focusing on fundraising for 24 hours straight.
Griffon Esports started its 24-hour livestream at 4 p.m. Thursday, featuring various clubs and games.
Students plan and operate the livestream, signing up for certain shifts during the stream, with some working all 24 hours.
"They've come together the last couple of weeks," said Riley Boyd, Griffon Esports director. "There's been a lot of planning meetings that have been happening. It's been really neat to see student ideas come into play and different things that they want to do with how they want things to look, whether that's decorating the arena, the segments that we're doing."
Abby Ward, student general manager, highlighted the collaborative effort of the event.
"A lot of people that are working the livestream are the people who came up with those ideas," Ward said. "We have a Mario Kart contest, a costume contest and a Super Smash tournament."
As it has in the past, the livestream event partnered with a local charity. This year, it was with Extra Life, a program based out of Children's Miracle Network Hospitals.
All proceeds raised during the stream will go toward Extra Life.
"Missouri Western has been doing this for a long time," Boyd said. "This is something we're really proud of and just the tradition that we're really excited to continue to do. Extra Life is just such a fantastic organization."
Friday morning will see several guests join the stream, as some Missouri Western executives, including university president Elizabeth Kennedy, will be in for one-on-one Rocket League matches against one another.
It's another major moment for the esports program.
"A lot of the schools that Missouri Western traditionally plays in athletics, we want to form that relationship with them as well," Boyd said. "So that's a big focus. And expectation for us is to continue to do that and to win. Everything we do, you know, when it comes to competition, we want to win."
