Q1 2020 Texas CEO Magazine

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bk5gunoajn5etyhnlntacm4c0wqx 2,048×1,365 pixels.pdfSaved to Dropbox • Dec 3, 2019 at 8J57 AMBUILDINGTHEESPORTSSKYSCRAPERJASON LAKE,FOUNDER AND CEOOF COMPLEXITYGAMING, ON THEEXPONENTIALGROWTH ANDSKY-HIGH FUTUREOF COMPETITIVEVIDEO GAMINGThink esports is just a bunch of kids playing video games? Thinkagain. In 2020, competitive video gaming is a billion-dollarindustry, and Jason Lake of Complexity Gaming is in the vanguard.Complexity, founded in 2003, was acquired by Jerry Jones andJohn Goff in 2017 and since then has relocated to Cowboys HQ andrebranded to align with the franchise.Lake likes to describe his work in the esports industry as “buildingskyscrapers,” edifices that take considerable time and effort to build,but that generate returns for generations. If you’re unfamiliar withthe whole “esports thing,” read on for a crash course—and to find outwhy every business leader should be paying attention.68 Texas CEO Magazine Q1 2020
THE ESPORTSINDUSTRY IS VALUEDAT ABOUT $1.1 BILLIONWITH EXPECTATIONS OF ITREACHING PROBABLY $1.8OR $2 BILLION BY 2022.How did you get into esports to start with? I grew up as afootball player who was also a video game player. Back in the1980s, that was kind of a unique thing. You were either a jockor a nerd. But I was a bit of both. I discovered esports around2002 and saw that competitive video gaming was a thing, and itwas the perfect synergy for me. I founded Complexity 16 yearsago, in 2003, so I’ve been in esports since the beginning.How do you think about esports? How do you see it fitting intothe current landscape? Esports is essentially competitive videogaming. It takes the form of organized multiplayer video gamecompetitions between professional players. All esports are videogames but not all video games are esports. So the age-old debatehas been: “Is this activity a sport?” Personally, I’m not reallysuper interested in that debate. Any time there’s an activity thatbillions of people around the world enjoy, there’s going to be acertain percentage of those people who like to watch excellencein that activity. Esports is no different. Video games havebecome ubiquitous to virtually all cultures around the world, sowatching excellence in those games is the natural progression.I think a lot of our CEOs would be surprised about the sizeand scope of the esports market and the amount of moneyinvolved. Esports is growing quite rapidly. Currently, it’sestimated there’s over 450 million active global fans ofesports. Seventy-nine percent of those are under the age of35. Some estimates have that number ballooning to over 600million globally in the next couple of years. As far as dollarsigns, the esports industry is valued at about $1.1 billionwith expectations of it reaching probably $1.8 or $2 billionby 2022. It’s becoming quite mainstream in the digital era,due to the evolution of technology and the growing consumerpreference toward new forms of competitive events.We see traditional rock stars like Post Malone doing differentactivations with esports teams. You see a cross-collaborationwith a lot of notable athletes who all grew up playingvideo games and admire their professional counterpartsin the esports world. You see influencers like Ninja goingon Jimmy Fallon regularly. I think esports is becomingingrained into the sports and media and entertainmentculture all around the world. It’s fascinating to be a part of.Is the US the leading esports market or are there bigger ones?Esports was originally founded in the Korean market, thencaught fire in Europe before it really started to grow in the US.If you had to pick one market that’s probably going to be theworld’s largest over the next decade, that would be China.You’ve recently associated with a major sports franchise in theDallas Cowboys. Tell me what that’s been like. It’s been fantastic.Complexity was acquired by Jerry Jones and John Goff in2017. We’re really one of the first ever esports teams to truly beintegrated with a sister traditional sports team. Both Complexityand the Cowboys are headquartered at The Star in Frisco,Texas, and that enables us to have seamless coordination andintegration with that organization. We work with the legal team,the marketing team, the accountants, the social media team, thecoaches, the health and welfare departments, and the charitydepartments of the Cowboys. We’re really quite integrated acrossthe operations. We have a gaming zone in AT&T Stadium. We setup a gaming trailer at training camp out in Oxnard, California,for the players. Players come through our new headquartersquite often and pick up a hoodie and play video games with us.So I think we’re by far the esports team that’s most integratedwith a traditional sports franchise anywhere in the world.Obviously we’ve had esports for a long time, as you mentioned.What do you think is driving the dramatic growth in the last fewyears? Great question. The exponential growth really startedwith the rise of Twitch, which is a streaming platform thatenabled anyone to turn on their mobile device or computerand watch these events live from anywhere in the world. Oncethat took off and the viewership data was filtering in, we sawan influx of investor cash, which really propelled the industryto a much larger level than it was just five years ago. Thatexponential growth makes this sector one of the more interestingof any sports entertainment product anywhere in the world.As the world changes and young people become moresophisticated with what ads they want to consume and whatactivities they’ve chosen to spend their discretionary incomeon, gaming time and time again tops those lists. As advertisersand marketers have a harder and harder time reaching newgenerations through traditional methods of marketing, many ofthem have found esports to be a quite compelling way to do that.Is there anything particular about Texas that is hot for esports?Definitely. Dallas is arguably the second-hottest city foresports in North America next to Los Angeles. For us, thepartnership with the Cowboys makes Texas the perfect place.There’s so many synergies. Complexity is able to leverage theexisting brand partnerships of the Cowboys and to create amutually beneficial relationship. We’ve signed top endemicbrands [which sell products used directly in esports, suchas gaming equipment and energy drinks] and non-endemicbrands like MillerCoors, GameStop, Baylor Scott & White,Mamba Sports Academy, and others—and we couldn’t havedone that as quickly without the support of the Dallas Cowboysacross the street. There are other organizations that haveTexasCEOMagazine.com69
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Q1 2020THE BUSINESS OFTEXASSPORTSTI
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Letter from theOWNERGreat CEOs crea
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P O D C A S TEach week on Ask a CEO
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