One of the richest names in the sports world is joining the growing list of traditional sports team owners making a pivot into competitive video games. And he’s partnering with one of the most established names in professional gaming.
Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones and Fort Worth-based real estate investor John Goff are buying Complexity Gaming, the organization announced this week. Jones joins New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft, New York Mets COO Jeff Wilpon and a growing number of sports team proprietors hoping to apply their knowledge of the world’s most competitive sports leagues to the burgeoning esports space. It’s too late for Jones to join Kraft in the inaugural season of the Overwatch League. But Complexity is already established in a number of other well-known competitive titles.
Those squads are currently spread across the United States, but that appears to be changing. Complexity Gaming will move its professional operations to The Star, a building in Frisco, Texas that also houses the Dallas Cowboys’ world headquarters. Jones and Goff will also break ground on a state-of-the-art facility that Complexity says will include “offices, production studios, and industry leading training facilities.” That’s particularly big news for the team’s roster, which currently includes squads for Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, Dota 2, Gwent and Hearthstone. Texas may not be as pretty as the Dota squad’s oceanfront digs in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, but it’s going to come with a much cheaper price tag for the duo picking up the tab.
It’s not clear what else this will mean for the organization. Anyone who grew up in the Dallas area (like yours truly) or follows the Cowboys knows Jones has a reputation for being very hands-on with his investments. And we also wouldn’t be shocked if Jones has aggressive plans for expansion. He’s widely credited with helping mold the NFL into the marketing powerhouse it is today and the Dallas Cowboys have been one of the most valuable sports organizations on the planet for many years. Building upon (and marketing to) a growing fanbase is clearly an area in which he has experience. We’ll just have to wait and see if that experience lends itself to the preferred entertainment of a new generation.
Dota 2 is currently available for Windows and OS X.
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