North Carolina have established the Esports Industry Grant Fund; committing up to $5 million USD a year to esports competitions.

As GamesIndustry.biz reports, North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper signed the state’s annual budget into law last week. Therein, the Esports Industry Grant Fund was approved, aiming to encourage more competitions to be held within North Carolina. The grant will pay up to 20% of qualifying expenses for competitions.

These are not small tournaments either. The grant is focused on competitions costing at least $250,000 USD to run, and committing up to $5 million USD a year for it. The grant will also reimburse up to 25% of event spending on in-state goods, services, compensation, and benefits.  North Carolina’s Department of Commerce will be issuing grants to companies over the next five years.

The grant will be supported by the Greater Raleigh Esports Local Organizing Committee, as well as Subnation Media; a gaming and esports holding company.

The grant is the brain child of North Carolina House Senior Appropriations Chair Rep. Jason Saine. He spoke about the importance of the grant beyond the events and games.

“This is not just about the esports competition and the game play, it’s really about the opportunity to get all generations and groups involved in education and technology, and really fostering that as a way that we build a world-class workforce for the future and higher paying jobs for everybody.”

“When you think about recruitment of esports productions and events, what this program allows us to do is showcase not only our state, but also win a lot of business that we wouldn’t have secured otherwise.”