Myrtle Beach's second annual collegiate esports competition, Boost at the Beach, was held March 8-10, 2024, at The Hangout in Myrtle Beach. This year’s event doubled in team size from six schools last year to 12 this year.
The teams that came to town included two South Carolina universities, Clemson and South Carolina, along with Harrisburg, George Mason, Georgia State, Maryville, Michigan State, Northeastern, Ole Miss, Syracuse, UNC Charlotte and West Virginia.
The tournament was fully managed by students from Shenandoah University and Syracuse University with support from Coastal Carolina University’s Esports Club.
“Last year’s Boost at the Beach was even more successful than we had hoped, and this year’s event is staged to be even more exciting with the field size doubling from six to 12 universities. Plus, the exposure this event will gain on Twitch and YouTube will once again highlight Myrtle Beach as a leading sports tourism destination in the country,” said Jonathan Paris, Executive Director of Sports Tourism, Visit Myrtle Beach.
“We’re thrilled to be back and running Boost on the Beach with the Myrtle Beach CVB,” said Syracuse University Executive Director of Esports Joey Gawrysiak. “There was an overwhelmingly positive response from last year's award-winning event, and we’re looking to make it even bigger and better for this year’s iteration. It’s a great opportunity to collaborate with other universities to provide hands-on experiences for students to compete and run the event.”
The teams played Rocket League, an action sports game from Psyonix, on Saturday while the final bracket play happened Sunday.
On Friday evening, event officials announced the brackets for the tournament play. Spectators watched the competition in person or live on Twitch and YouTube.
A high school-level Super Smash Bros tournament took place on Sunday. Super Smash Bros Ultimate is a combat-based character competition published by Nintendo.
Alienware, a leading gaming computer company, is providing all gaming PCs. Rally Cry, a gaming organization, will also support the tournament as a sponsor.
