Video-gaming as a spectator sport is a growing market expected to reach nearly $1 billion globally this year. And Hussey Seating Co. in North Berwick is looking to be part of the action.
In 2018, Hussey entered the “esports” market with a contract for over 3,000 of its folding chairs at Esports Stadium Arlington in Arlington, Texas — at 100,000 square feet, the largest such dedicated venue in North America.
Now Hussey has announced a strategic partnership with the National Association of Collegiate Esports in Kansas City. The partnership names Hussey as NACE’s official seating solutions supplier. Terms were not disclosed.
“We’re extremely proud to partner with a leading esports organization like NACE. Partnering with them will allow us an even deeper connection with the growing collegiate esports community,” Gary Merrill, Hussey’s president and CEO, said in a news release.
Hussey is also outfitting some of the nation’s biggest professional sports venues over the next 24 months, including Talking Stick Arena, in Phoenix; Bankers Life Fieldhouse, in Indianapolis; PNC Park, in Pittsburgh; and the Alamodome, in San Antonio.
Competitive video gaming
Esports is competitive video-gaming played as a spectator event, Hussey’s vice president of sales and marketing, Sean O’Leary, told Mainebiz. Players are organized as teams that line up, similarly to baseball, from the community and youth levels up through college and professional leagues.
“It’s just exploded,” he said of the market.
Hussey’s portfolio and 3D computer-aided custom design and engineering capabilities for sports, entertainment, education and performing arts, along with its nationwide dealer network, position the company well for the esport marketplace, he said.
“We’re making a big push into it,” he added.
Since 2018, Hussey’s other esports projects included seating for dedicated venues: Fortress Melbourne in Melbourne, Australia, and the Fortress Arena at Full Sail University in Winter Park, Fla. The company’s esports installations have ranged from thousands of portable folding chairs to wall-attached and transportable telescopic platforms.
Officially formed in 2016, the National Association of Collegiate Esports, with over 170 member schools, is the only institutional association for varsity esports. Its membership comprises over 94% of the varsity programs in the U.S.
Esports is a small share of Hussey’s overall revenues at the moment, said O’Leary.
“But of all the segments we’re in, we feel this has probably one of the highest growth potentials,” he continued. “We’re on the leading edge now. There are facilities being discussed at all levels and we’re in the midst of negotiations for a couple of large ones.”
Hussey is following developments for venues at all levels, from community through college to pro, he said.
“We’re at the early stages, but we’re staking our claim in this rapidly growing marketplace.”