Why Waterloo region wants to grow esports industry locally and experts say others should follow suit

In late 2020, the region announced it wanted to become a hotspot for esport tournaments. The work to get there has been underway during the pandemic, said Allister Scorgie, director of sport hosting for Explore Waterloo Region.

Scorgie says the Waterloo Region Esports Commission was created in March 2021 to bring local businesses and organizations onboard to support the local gaming community. The group managed to squeeze in a few virtual esport camps last summer.

This March however, Scorgie said Explore Waterloo Region hopes to present more information and resources to the community on what esports are all about.

Scorgie said that includes, “what a day of an esport player is like, careers in gaming and esports, online safety and wellness and some resources for people around cyber bullying.”

More cities look to invest in esports

As more people have turned to digital entertainment, especially during to the pandemic, investing in esports is becoming a growing trend within municipalities and organizations, said Alex Igelman, a lawyer, strategist and founder of Esports Capital Corp in Toronto. His company has worked with cities and venues in Canada and in the U.S. on their esport plans.

“I think cities are seeing that as we move to this web 3.0 in this digital connected world, they have to make accommodations for this competitive aspect, which has become a very big business,” he said.

Just like when cities invest in sport complexes and ice rinks to accommodate other types of sports and tournaments, Igelman said municipalities that want to stand out and attract more talent should think about doing the same for esports.

“Remember, it’s not just the viewership you’re going to get at home. If K-W has a large tournament, you can potentially get tens of millions of people tuning in, depending on the calibre of that tournament,” Igelman said.

“That’s going to bring you into the international limelight.”

Local post-secondary institutions like Conestoga College, the University of Waterloo and Wilfrid Laurier University all have teams that compete in the Ontario Post-Secondary Esport league. They go up against other players in popular games like League of Legends and Overwatch.

Kristen Bolliger, assistant manager with recreation and performance at Conestoga College, said they made the jump into esports during the pandemic to keep sport going at the school — even if it was digitally — with success. 

“It really took off and we were surprised with the amount of interest from community members and students and various stakeholders at the college to continue with this E-sport journey,” she said.

Esports a platform for innovation

With the region’s strong tech community and three post-secondary institutions involved in esport leagues, Igelman and other industry experts like Chris Overholt, president and CEO of Toronto-based OverActive Media, say it makes sense that Waterloo region is looking at esports as a platform for innovation and as a way to stay relevant with younger generations.

“This is a generation that thinks differently about their sports and media choices and a generation that is not inclined to sit and watch three hours of hockey, like I did growing up in Canada, but might be more inclined to watch seven hours of Call of Duty or Overwatch,” Overholt said.

Overholt and Igelman say that esports is an industry that is evolving and here to stay with players and millions of fans eager to watch across the country and internationally.

“We have seen incredible growth in revenue streams and investor money landing in the space,” Overhold said, whose company owns different esport franchises and teams. 

“In Canada we know today from our own research that there are 5.7 million declared esport fans in this country and we know by comparison there are a little over 10.5 million NBA fans. That league is almost 100 years old.”