As a Brit, I find American college sports and athletics scholarships thoroughly baffling, but Robert Morris University Illinois is starting a scholarship program that I can almost get behind: Joystiq reports that the college is offering scholarships for e-sports players. League of Legends players can be awarded scholarships worth up to 50 percent of tuition and 50 percent of room and board.

The university is looking for applicants who participate in the League of Legends High School Starleague, with a view to building a League team to play in the Collegiate Star League (a separate competition to League of Legends developer Riot's own collegiate program). The 2014 season starts in September and will feature teams from 103 different institutions.

Of course, if you really want a career in e-sports, it's worth ignoring League of Legends and aiming straight at the big time: Dota 2. In addition to being the greatest game of all time, next month's Valve-sponsored tournament, The International, offers the biggest prize pool in all of e-sports, currently sitting at $9.7 million and counting. The winning team of five is expected to take home almost $5 million.