"I don't get a hard on when someone hits a home run," said Joe Deng with a laugh.
While not a fan of traditional sports, Deng, the co-founder of Limoo Tea Bar, has his eyes set on a different kind of sports.
From August 3rd to August 8th, gamers from around the world will come to Seattle for The International V Dota 2 tournament and a chance to win over $17 million. Millions of people all around the world will livestream the event. Esports, competitive gaming, is the fastest growing spectator sport in the world and has opened up a world of new opportunities for businesses through sponsorships and live streams. Even Mark Cuban has gotten involved investing in an esports betting start-up.
And now with the rise of esports, Deng wants a piece of the action.
While watching competitive video gaming is hardly new, with the rise of free-to-play games such as Dota 2 and League of Legends the trend has taken to new heights among their passionate fans. Major tournaments sell out massive arenas. The International V which has sold out KeyArena in Seattle, former home of the Seattle Supersonics, in ten minutes according to VG24/7. Streams of these events are available in more places than ever, such as Major League Gaming and Amazon-owned Twitch. There is even a TV channel in South Korea dedicated to gaming. So it's time that we treat esports more like other spectator sports as something to be watched in public.
Deng's Limoo will air the whole tournament at the restaurant on 1032 Comm Ave. near BU and offer free cover for the early rounds. For the finals on August 7th and 8th, Limoo is offering tickets for $12 for single day and $20 for both. Although not the first watch party of its kind in Boston, he believes he's in a particularly good place to offer this.
We had people standing on the stairs, people trying to see over each other[/pullquote]
The learning curve to even understand Dota 2 is incredibly steep, something that Deng understands as a gamer. Deng plays EVE Online, a massive multiplayer online game. He estimates that the game has a 20 percent retention rate due to its complexity. As an EVE player, he gets how passionate fans can be about their game of choice and sees how few places are catering to what is a big, intense audience.
"I'm excited to be part of the community, and tap in as a gamer and business owner," he said.
He believes that his experience as a gamer makes him a natural to host a party like this bringing gamers together to watch this tournament, much like people watch something watch the World Cup.
Deng's party is one of only three in Massachusetts with the others in Somerville and Taunton. The party in Somerville, at Warehouse XI, is hosted by BarCraft Boston which helped pioneer the gaming tournament watch party just a few years ago.
In 2011 Scott Trano heard about the BarCraft idea–watching video games in a bar–from a friend in Seattle. As a kid, Trano would stay up late and watch people in Korea play StarCraft. Having watched tournaments with friends and done work with local bars, he believed he could put on his own BarCraft.
Esports, competitive gaming, is the fastest growing spectator sport in the world[/pullquote]
He held the first event for a Major League Gaming tournament at The Greatest Bar. Trano–also a gamer–got a huge turnout, filling up the bar. Boston was one of the original seven BarCraft cities and it began to expand, peaking at 216 cities. Trano was consistently planning BarCraft Boston events for every reasonably sized gaming competition, as the crowds continued to grow.
"It peaked two years ago at The International III. We had almost 300 people trying to sit on the top floor of Tommy Doyle's, which sadly no longer exists," he said. "We thought we'd get 150 to 200 people and it was just an absolute nightmare. We had people standing on the stairs, people trying to see over each other."
Four years after the original, BarCraft has slowed down. Trano only plans them for the major gaming tournaments such as The International. He's expecting 150 to 200 people, which is about the capacity of the venue, and has already sold out pre-sale tickets.
While BarCraft expects a high turnout, Deng does not know what to expect at Limoo. He is working to spread the word through a Facebook event and other social media. But he already has an eye to the future.
"If it works out as a positive outcome, there will be more events of its kind. We already have the League of Legends people saying 'what about us'"
Trano, the more experienced member of the gaming event community, believes there will always be people who want to watch major gaming events in a big group.
"Sharing an experience with other people is something that's kinda sorely lacking in the day and age that we're in," he said. "I get to watch this awesome thing, I get to potentially win raffle prizes or whatever else, I get to meet new people, I get to hang out with my friends, I get to get drunk and make a fool out of myself, it's kinda the whole package of this is really what people are interested in, at least gamer-wise, these days."