Esports center coming to Cape Girardeau later this year

The reader is invited to do a Google search for "lol," the popular texting slang.

The first results received are no longer for the acronym spelling out the words "laugh out loud," but instead such a query returns a list of links related to the video game League of Legends.

By some measures, the popularity of esports, or electronic sports, is growing at an extraordinary rate.

For the uninitiated, esports involves any competitive online video game, whether played solo or on a team.

According to statista.com, a market research firm, esports — in all of its forms — had an estimated worldwide value of more than $1 billion in 2021, increasing by over half from 2020.

A group of local investors hopes to catch the wave and plans to open a bricks-and-mortar esports gaming center in Cape Girardeau by mid-summer.

Jim Riley of Cape Girardeau's Red Letter Communications, one of the principals behind the new company Relentless Contenders, which plans to open the center, is bullish on esports and its future.

"So much of the world is already involved in esports. It is the biggest entertainment industry now in America and maybe in the world," he said. "That's compelling and it's embraced by so many of our young people who are so passionate about this. Even though our generation grew up with a different set of circumstances, for them, this is as real as playing baseball and other physical sports were for us."

Eighth grader Wyatt Means, sitting center of the photo holding a controller, plays in the Super Smash Bros. esports competition hosted by the Missouri Scholastic Esports Federation, on Nov. 17 at Cape Girardeau Junior High School.Southeast Missourian file

John Truitt, Relentless Contenders CEO, also plans to open a gaming center in Paducah, Kentucky, where he lives — and acknowledges not everyone will understand why he and his team are excited about the new venture.

"If someone is over the age of 40, perhaps even 35, if you say esports to them, they don't know what you're talking about," acknowledged Truitt, in remarks Thursday to a crowd invited by the digital workforce development company Codefi at the Marquette Building in downtown Cape Girardeau.

Truitt — whose son Dustin is one of the world's top ranked players of the esports video game Overwatch — said global events have spurred rapid growth in this niche market.

"The number of people playing esports worldwide is expanding exponentially thanks to lockdowns, COVID fears, and for awhile, the lack of traditional sports on television," he said, citing one data point in particular.

"In 2021, more people in the U.S. were watching esports than any other sport except for the National Football League," Truitt noted.

Esport examples

In addition to the aforementioned Overwatch and League of Legends, other competitive video games include Call of Duty, Fortnite, World of Warcraft and Candy Crush.

Brett Payne, founder of Contender eSports — with whom the local group Relentless Contenders will partner — said he is often asked why people should come to a gaming center when competitive video games can be played at home.

"There is the compelling aspect of having friends on a team and the ability to compete and win with your friends," said Payne, whose company opened a successful esports gaming center in Springfield, Missouri, six weeks before Gov. Mike Parson issued his COVID-related stay-at-home order in early 2020. "At our centers, we make it fun, we have refrigerators to store food and it's a very social, family-friendly environment."

Payne said Contender eSports is trying to establish a "footprint" worldwide.

"We're trying to be the Starbucks of esports and give every child — especially — an opportunity to be a champion," he said.

"We have moms come up to us and say, 'Oh, I see this isn't a waste of time,'" Payne recalled, adding 82% of the Springfield center's first-time guests sign up for a $10 membership.

Riley said he sees the practical application of esport gaming.

"There is camaraderie in playing these games together but it's also a learning experience — helping younger people develop team skills, communication skills and dexterity skills," he said, adding information technology competencies are needed for all sorts of careers — such as agriculture, civic engineering, logistics, defense and many others.

"The way our world is going in terms of the jobs of the future with geospatial intelligence, with the Fourth Industrial Revolution, with the way flight training is going to be done and the way all of these things in daily life are going, proficiency in esports lends itself to the way these jobs are going to be done."

One of Riley's Relentless Contenders partners, Michael Williams, director of investor relations for Sixty West in Dexter, Missouri, added his 2 cents.

"What gets me intrigued is rural areas have a battle providing access to things the rest of the world already has. I look at the kids and it should be easy for them to access these things, particularly those without the traditional resources," Williams said. "To be able to have a venue where we can open the doors and let all walks of our community come together — that's one thing I would like to see more in our region. To me, it's about access and reaching folks who otherwise are getting left behind."

Timeline

Truitt said starting a location in Cape Girardeau is a "priority," adding the gaming center will be 2,500- to 3,000-square-feet in size with a target of July to open — adding the company does not have a location identified.

"The equipment needed for an esports gaming center is expensive and also costly to maintain," said Truitt, adding supply-chain issues make a firm prediction for a start date problematic.

Others

In addition to Riley, Truitt and Williams, other company principals are James Stapleton and Chris Carnell of Codefi and Glenn Campbell, co-founder of Hat World-Lids and a graduate of Southeast Missouri State University.

Retention

Truitt spoke directly to an issue raised by those involved in devising a strategic plan for Cape Girardeau Area Magnet, the not-for-profit economic development organization.

"All of us in Relentless Contenders have a passion for retaining young people here where they don't feel the need to relocate to Nashville or St. Louis," Truitt said.

Southeast Missouri State University has an esports presence, which is said to be the second largest club at the school. Some middle schools and high schools — such as Cape Girardeau Central, for example — have successful student groups as well.

Payne said some universities offer scholarships for esport gamers.

"Every industry is a tech industry today and helping a young person find a job in IT in this area is certainly part of what we want to accomplish."

Do you want more business news? Check out B Magazine, and the B Magazine email newsletter. Go to www.semissourian.com/newsletters to find out more.