Q1 2020 Texas CEO Magazine

THE ESPORTS
INDUSTRY IS VALUED
AT ABOUT $1.1 BILLION
WITH EXPECTATIONS OF IT
REACHING PROBABLY $1.8
OR $2 BILLION BY 2022.
How did you get into esports to start with? I grew up as a
football player who was also a video game player. Back in the
1980s, that was kind of a unique thing. You were either a jock
or a nerd. But I was a bit of both. I discovered esports around
2002 and saw that competitive video gaming was a thing, and it
was the perfect synergy for me. I founded Complexity 16 years
ago, in 2003, so I’ve been in esports since the beginning.
How do you think about esports? How do you see it fitting into
the current landscape? Esports is essentially competitive video
gaming. It takes the form of organized multiplayer video game
competitions between professional players. All esports are video
games but not all video games are esports. So the age-old debate
has been: “Is this activity a sport?” Personally, I’m not really
super interested in that debate. Any time there’s an activity that
billions of people around the world enjoy, there’s going to be a
certain percentage of those people who like to watch excellence
in that activity. Esports is no different. Video games have
become ubiquitous to virtually all cultures around the world, so
watching excellence in those games is the natural progression.
I think a lot of our CEOs would be surprised about the size
and scope of the esports market and the amount of money
involved. Esports is growing quite rapidly. Currently, it’s
estimated there’s over 450 million active global fans of
esports. Seventy-nine percent of those are under the age of
35. Some estimates have that number ballooning to over 600
million globally in the next couple of years. As far as dollar
signs, the esports industry is valued at about $1.1 billion
with expectations of it reaching probably $1.8 or $2 billion
by 2022. It’s becoming quite mainstream in the digital era,
due to the evolution of technology and the growing consumer
preference toward new forms of competitive events.
We see traditional rock stars like Post Malone doing different
activations with esports teams. You see a cross-collaboration
with a lot of notable athletes who all grew up playing
video games and admire their professional counterparts
in the esports world. You see influencers like Ninja going
on Jimmy Fallon regularly. I think esports is becoming
ingrained into the sports and media and entertainment
culture 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, then
caught 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 the
world’s largest over the next decade, that would be China.
You’ve recently associated with a major sports franchise in the
Dallas Cowboys. Tell me what that’s been like. It’s been fantastic.
Complexity was acquired by Jerry Jones and John Goff in
2017. We’re really one of the first ever esports teams to truly be
integrated with a sister traditional sports team. Both Complexity
and the Cowboys are headquartered at The Star in Frisco,
Texas, and that enables us to have seamless coordination and
integration with that organization. We work with the legal team,
the marketing team, the accountants, the social media team, the
coaches, the health and welfare departments, and the charity
departments of the Cowboys. We’re really quite integrated across
the operations. We have a gaming zone in AT&T Stadium. We set
up a gaming trailer at training camp out in Oxnard, California,
for the players. Players come through our new headquarters
quite 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 integrated
with 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 few
years? Great question. The exponential growth really started
with the rise of Twitch, which is a streaming platform that
enabled anyone to turn on their mobile device or computer
and watch these events live from anywhere in the world. Once
that took off and the viewership data was filtering in, we saw
an influx of investor cash, which really propelled the industry
to a much larger level than it was just five years ago. That
exponential growth makes this sector one of the more interesting
of any sports entertainment product anywhere in the world.
As the world changes and young people become more
sophisticated with what ads they want to consume and what
activities they’ve chosen to spend their discretionary income
on, gaming time and time again tops those lists. As advertisers
and marketers have a harder and harder time reaching new
generations through traditional methods of marketing, many of
them 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 for
esports in North America next to Los Angeles. For us, the
partnership with the Cowboys makes Texas the perfect place.
There’s so many synergies. Complexity is able to leverage the
existing brand partnerships of the Cowboys and to create a
mutually beneficial relationship. We’ve signed top endemic
brands [which sell products used directly in esports, such
as gaming equipment and energy drinks] and non-endemic
brands like MillerCoors, GameStop, Baylor Scott & White,
Mamba Sports Academy, and others—and we couldn’t have
done that as quickly without the support of the Dallas Cowboys
across the street. There are other organizations that have
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