Professional Teams Make Esports Look Bright
Get excited about esports in Las Vegas! Nevada Governor Sandoval is, and for good reason. His commitment to make Las Vegas the esports capital of the world could open up some great opportunities for this little town in the desert.
Okay…so two million and growing isn’t so little anymore, but you get the point. Las Vegas has just gained its first professional sports team in the NHL’s Vegas Golden Knights and rumors continue to surface that the NFL Oakland Raiders are destined to move to Vegas in the future. It’s safe to say at this point that the City of Lights is able to support a plethora of entertainment venues outside of the casino industry.
Overwatch European Team to Vegas?
Get to the point? Okay, esports are primed and ready to grow in Las Vegas. The city already hosts just about every convention out there, in addition to major events such as UFC and Boxing. It is not unreasonable to think that the same could apply for esports.
To those out there that feel like esports are just a trend it should be pointed out that Blizzard has already announced at BlizzCon 2016 that a professional Overwatch League is being created, with regional teams. Las Vegas could be one of those cities to get a team if the Governor is serious about esports. In fact, Europe’s Overwatch celebrity pro team Rogue has already put their name in the bidding for Las Vegas to be their home. Founder Frank Villarreal has confirmed such in a November 2016 article,
“Yes, we are bidding in Vegas. In late August the players came to Vegas to bootcamp and have been traveling tournament to tournament full-time since then, but [the] team’s “home town” will be Vegas and they will live here once the tournaments are over. (Alambeigi)”
Dallas Cowboys and Esports
The 76ers have already become “the first North American professional sports team to own an esports team (Rovell ).” Dignitas and Apex were purchased for League of Legends but other Professional Sports teams are interested as well. After doing research the Dallas Cowboys have chosen Epsilon to do research on whether they should purchase an esports team or not. This is because research has found that the esports industry generated $892.8 million in revenue last year. In addition SuperData have projected that the industry will break $1 billion this year (Rath). America’s Team made $700 million in revenue in 2016. So adding an esports team could mean big money.
There are many things to get excited for in Las Vegas. NHL, NFL, and UFC have already made an impact in the city and there is room to grow. Esports are growing in popularity and professionals such as Rogue are prime and ready to succeed. NBA teams are purchasing teams and sports giants like Jerry Jones of the Dallas Cowboys are chomping at the bit to get involved. So get excited about esports in Las Vegas!