Business of Esports TV: Museum to Arena

(Podcast #131)

In this segment, we discuss a textile museum at Florida Tech being converted to an esports arena.

The Business Of Esports brings you news, debates, and all the information you need to know about the gaming sector, the world’s fastest-growing market. With Paul “The Profit” Dawalibi leading the charge, and a variety of special guests, BoE TV is the only place to find insider information on the esports industry!

Check out the full podcast here:

William Collis 4:29
That’s right. And we got some spicy stories today, some fun stuff to cover. And I think this podcast I think might actually some bigger picture issues that I think are kind of interesting. So it’ll be fun to touch on those and maybe have a slightly totally different podcast than we normally do. So let’s let’s see how it goes. But But first, we got to open with a really fun story. Right, Paul?

Paul Dawalibi 4:50
Yeah, we have a bit of a silly story which I thought you know, I think we both agreed would be just kind of fun to open with because of our nature of the story. And And fundamentally the story was, again, it’s an Esports story. But it’s interesting because of what actually took place here. So just a bit of background, I’ll just I’ll show you guys the headline or I’ll read you the headline here. If you’re listening to this podcast, it’s Florida Tech’s funk Textile Museum to become eSports arena, generating mixed reviews. And the gist of the story here is that this person, funk, who is a philanthropist who died donated 1.2 5 million to Florida tech, to build her namesake facility. And it was going to be the first and only Textile Museum of its stature in Florida. Now, budgetary woes sort of hit this Textile Museum hard. And now Florida tech, which is very stem focused, is converting this Textile Museum to an Esports arena, much to the dismay of funks descendants. It’s kind of a fun story. It’s like, I don’t know, well, what are your thoughts? Well,

William Collis 6:07
you know, this is an interesting one for me, because for me, this is really like, you know, there’s a reason why we decided to put it in. It’s like, it’s shows you how times change, you know what I mean? Because I think it’s easy to hear the words Textile Museum today, and kind of think, oh, that’s such a dated, you know, like, antiquated concept, the text. But like, honestly, textile was one of the major manufacturing industries for most of, you know, basically modern history. And it’s still incredibly important to the global economy, you know, it’s still it’s a huge, it’s still a huge industry, right. But it also shows you how, like eSports is seeping in other places and displacing these old, you know, what, you know, handily do sound more antiquated, they’re, you know, they’re maybe not, but like, their Esports is kind of pushing its way in. And I think it’s sort of a funny story, particularly to see it here, like taking over a Textile Museum, because it’s sort of this very nice parable of like, you know, here’s the new kid on the block, like, get this other stuff out. I also think it’s kind of an interesting thing to think about, too, because it shows how, you know, basically, resources are being reallocated to reflect the new economy, you know, what I mean, as I said, textiles are like, incredibly important American history and global history, right. And it’s so funny to see like an Esports arena, be something that’s strong enough and compelling enough to push, or at least for decision makers to feel like, it’s worth pushing out that regardless of the mixed reviews it’s been getting, so, you know, politics, I know, it must, if I donated all that money to have a Textile Museum in my name, or any sports arena, I’d be pretty upset. But

Paul Dawalibi 7:49
yeah, I mean, no, but I understand why they’re upset. Right. But it is, it’s interesting, also, in the context of the other discussions we’ve had around eSports, and colleges or universities, and and i think particularly, particularly interesting, because a lot of these private schools are, are, are not strapped for cash, but they’re all pressure, they’re all coming under pressure to sort of justify every investment. Yeah. And, and focus on areas that will drive real revenue and real growth for the university. Right. And I think what we’re seeing is, this is a perfect example of university looking at their bottom line going, you know, this eSports thing is going to drive more applicants to come to Florida tech. And so it’s, it’s kind of a no brainer, right? It’s way better driver of revenue than a Textile Museum. And I think good universities are all realizing that, and I, you know, this story is funny, because where we’ve seen many examples of universities, building new facilities, or committing to new facilities, I think this is the first one where it’s like, Hey, you guys, like get out of here. We’re using

William Collis 8:58
replacement. It’s like, well, that building could probably be used for you know, anything else something? Yeah, but um, yeah.

Paul Dawalibi 9:07
So you know, it’s just another I think, sign of this trend, which I think will only accelerate of every, you know, reputable college and university in the country having both academic programs and facilities for people to play and compete. Because that’s what’s going to attract people to them, especially stem focused, like universities like Florida tech, it’s doubly important, I think. So. It’s an interesting, but a fun story. And although we feel sorry for funks descendants,

William Collis 9:37
Yeah, it does. It’s unfortunate. I mean, like I said, as much as it’s sort of funny to make light of it. It’s, it is tough, you know, because, you know, that’s presumably that person made a hugely significant contribution to the school. And you would wish that the school could have found another way to achieve this and right like eSports didn’t want to take over the Textile Museum. It seems like that was the director of the school but yeah.