Note: The following is a guest column written by Brandon Tschacher of the MKEsports Alliance
As a child of the 90s, I can still remember clearly the excitement myself and friends felt every time a new gaming system would be released. The joy of playing the latest and greatest titles, the improved graphics and new gameplay options, which always seemed to have more expansive worlds for us to explore and conquer.
It was a transformative time. All we knew as kids is the systems were cool. Our parents didn’t like it, but we didn’t care.
I was reminded of that transformative time in gaming recently while watching “High Score” a 2020 Netflix docuseries detailing the rise of gaming during the 1990’s and 2000’s and featuring in-depth interviews with many of the people who led the charge during that time.
They detailed the highs of record revenue and the lows of parent opposition, the pure excitement for the future, with the understanding they were ahead of their time.
It was somewhere around the third episode that out the blue, it hit me – we are on the cusp of another transformative jump in gaming and technology, with esports as an industry leading the way.
The same dynamics then are present now, only this time – we aren’t 12 years old.
Discovering Esports in the Region
The moment after the thought "clicked," I did the first thing anyone does when they want to find out more about a subject. I googled it.
“Milwaukee Esports”
“Esports Milwaukee”
“How to get involved in esports in Milwaukee?”
No matter the search term, the results were all the same – sporadic and unorganized with no real resource to be found that definitively "spelled out" what was happening in our city or the region.
Hardly the strong and clear ecosystem one would expect from an industry projected to have topped $1 billion in revenue in 2020 and projected to be close to $2 billion by 2023.
Intrigued, I called upon my entrepreneurial past, and experience in building community and began the process of finding experts, asking questions, and working with them to understand what they felt was needed to unlock this growing, intriguing industry.
As only Milwaukee can, and aided by a once in a 100 year pandemic which makes communication flow at hyper speed (Thanks Zoom!), it wasn’t long before I was connected with the right people and the idea for what to do next came to light.
MKEsports Alliance Begins
Through the insight and encouragement of local esport leaders like Jim O’Hagan (Academy of Esports/Racine), Mike Dahle (Wisconsin High School Esports Association/Elkhorn), Tarik Moody (88.9 Radio Milwaukee) and Joe Loomis (Esports Director/Carroll College) the MKEsports Alliance (Milwaukee Esports Alliance) was formed.
Each leader, innovators who’ve helped build esport communities and programs of their own, spoke to the need for a group to come together and help unite the various partners across our geography in a coordinated manner that would lead to a "rising tide lifts all ships" result. Each also spoke to the meteoric interest and participation, lagged by investment and structure.
The groundwork was laid for what was needed from the organization.
Growing Culture and Connectivity
On the MKEsports Alliance website, two main goals are front and center:
- Grow the culture and connectivity of our regional esport groups, gamers, businesses and community partners;
- Advance metro Milwaukee’s standing as a national leader in the space, poised for future infrastructure and development.
Aided by a quickly increasing roster of corporate and community partners, it now lists services that include:
- Esport Community Programming;
- Comprehensive Online Directory;
- Centralized News & Updates;
- Local Esport Community Discord;
- Legislative Focus;
- Talent Pipeline;
- Local Tournaments
The advisory board recently identified goals for the future, which include partnering and working with Milwaukee Recreation and Milwaukee Public Schools to elevate esports programming at its institutions; collaborating on tournaments and events at Summerfest; and working with local and state government officials to understand how things like tax credits and other policies can aid the growth of esports.
An Eye on the Future
Myself, the advisory team, and our passionate volunteer base would tell you that the esports industry is still only in its infancy, despite all the press it has received. Similarly, while incredible traction has already begun in our region – we are still only scratching the surface of the opportunity it can present us economically and socially.
It will take the community coming together to embrace these opportunities, as others have in Arlington, Pittsburgh, Atlanta and a fast-growing roster of other cities across the U.S.
We have the resources, we have the talent, we have the infrastructure and the time is now.
