Complexity Gaming opened its new, revamped home last week at The Star in Frisco, Texas, as the e-sports team seeks to push the boundaries of video gaming and change attitudes about an industry trying to tap its mainstream entertainment potential.
After acquiring a majority stake in Complexity Gaming two years ago, Cowboys owner Jerry Jones and real estate mogul John Goff made an eye-popping seven-figure investment in the new space at The Star dubbed GameStop Performance Center.
"This HQ will run on passion and the trophies will follow," Goff Capital Inc. vice president Travis Goff told an audience gathered for a ribbon-cutting event.
Along with Complexity founder Jason Lake, the group has birthed a vision of what e-sports teams could look like if they had the resources afforded to traditional sports leagues like the NFL.
Complexity has teams that compete worldwide on game titles including Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, Fortnite, Rocket League, Call of Duty and Madden.
Described as a first-of-its-kind complex, GameStop Performance Center sits a stone's throw from the facility where the Cowboys train. Glass doors give way to a sleek public space complete with desktop gaming rigs and a bar where fans can play games. There's a semi-private portion of the center designed for the pros on Complexity's roster.
Complexity's latest rebranding bears a strong resemblance to the Cowboys' iconic colors and star, and is on display throughout the space.
E-sports continue to gain attention, according to industry reports, and live event spaces have quickly taken root in places where investors have snapped up existing teams and infused them with capital.
Over the next three years, the e-sports industry is expected to triple in value and reach an audience that could rival the NFL. All of this growth, however, has largely played out online on sites like YouTube and Twitch.
Complexity's new home base marks a major step in what investors hope will bring audiences out of their homes and into the public.
"It's new, it's not your typical business, but it's something we feel really compelled to be involved in," Cowboys chief operating officer Stephen Jones said of Complexity Gaming.
The investment in the space is also seen by the Jones family as one that will help them reach a younger audience that's been harder to tap with traditional sports franchises like the Cowboys.
Inside GameStop Performance Center, only a glass door separates the public space where fans can buy drinks and merchandise from a training center painstakingly designed for professional players.
The professional side contains several training rooms intended to mimic the ambiance and conditions players encounter on the competition stage, as well as a room in which players can exercise their reaction speeds and minds in a similar way to how athletes might train their bodies.
With north Texas dubbed an e-sports "mecca" by some in the industry, Complexity has been racking up a number of big-name sponsorship deals and business partnerships. Those include GameStop, which placed its name on the facility, and beer company Miller Coors.
MillerCoors will be the team's official vendor for alcohol, which will be catered to drinking-age fans -- another move to align e-sports fandom with traditional sporting experiences.
SundayMonday Business on 05/26/2019