GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Picture yourself back in 1993. You're in a living room and a young child has been working for hours to defeat Dr. Robotnik in Sonic the Hedgehog 2 on Sega Gensis. The child's parents walk in.
"Why don't you stop playing that video game and go outside, or you'll rot your brain?" they scold.
Thirty years later, Dee Jones believes those days are long gone, and that now people have seen the value in video games. Certainly he's not alone. Esports had already been gaining popularity well-before the COVID-19 pandemic. And months of not being able to go anywhere definitely didn't hurt the esports industry.
Jones, the founder and CEO of a nonprofit called Jump Ahead L3C, wants Grand Rapids to get a piece of the esports pie, so to speak. He believes it could help bring equity and economic prosperity to the city.
"It's a billion-dollar gaming industry. It's only growing, and I've just got a global vision to change our city economically," he said.
From an economic standpoint, Jones says esports tournaments bring in big money. Professional gamers travel all over the world to compete for big prizes, and those competitions can draw some pretty large crowds.
"People will come to our city. They'll buy our food in Kent County. They'll utilize our hotel rooms and go see our sites. They'll buy our gas. That's how we create economic boost," Jones said.
"Then we can bring big gaming companies here, game-developing companies that want to expand to different cities."
From an equity standpoint, Jones points to the fact that many colleges now are offering esports scholarships to people from all walks off life to be a part of their esports teams.
"The esports space is so innovative and creative, and now kids are being able to compete in the classroom, get grades, and graduate. Who wouldn't want that for students?" he said.
Jump Ahead L3C will be holding an NBA2K tournament on Saturday, April 22 at the historic Four Start Theatre at 1944 Division Avenue S from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. It's free and open to anyone. There will be a cash price.
Jones says city officials and police officers will be a part of the event. He's hoping that by having them on board, the event will help strengthen the relationship between the community and law enforcement.
"Whether they're a sheriff, a state police trooper, or a city police officer, they get off of their shifts and they hop on the game. They'll be on the headsets and they do all of the gaming stuff just like us. They just have a different profession that people usually don't want to get into. So, I just see it as a unique way of bringing the community together," he said.
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