A sense of déjà vu creeps in when you listen to sports team owner Ted Leonsis talk about his investment in an esports team. Leonsis, who gained much of his fortune from his stint as a senior executive with AOL, referenced the origins of the company in the 1980s, when it allowed Atari to create a community for gamers to play online, while speaking about the strength of the esports market.
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Esports team investor Ted Leonsis
Photo by: GETTY IMAGES
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“When I came to the company in 1994 we had a huge gaming community online,” Leonsis said. “We bought World Play, which was an online gaming environment from AT&T. I had been aware of the demography and the usage patterns of what’s been happening with egaming for a long time.”
Leonsis also has a more personal experience with the power of video games, telling a story that is familiar to many parents of millennials. Leonsis’ 27-year-old son, Zach, who also is an investor in the esports franchise Team Liquid, grew up playing video games and still logs on when he has some down time.
“It’s fascinating,” Leonsis said. “My family just came back from Europe. We get on the plane for a six-hour flight and I’m reading a book. My wife has a bunch of magazines. And my son’s fiancée has a bunch of stuff from work that she’s reading. And Zach? He has his iPhone out keeping the universe safe, killing aliens. …
“This is not a new phenomenon. AOL was originally a multi-user gaming network. It’s been around for 20-25 years. It just now has gotten to that critical mass.”
