Professional video gaming has emerged as a booming industry since the early 2000s. According to E-Sports statistics, professional video gamers have won over 125 million dollars in tournament prize money since 1998 and over 12 million dollars this year alone. Others have found high-paying careers in video game livestreaming and organizing tournaments.
Connor Hall is a former professional video gamer from St. Louis. He said that even as a kid he dreamt of playing video games as a profession. His dream came true in high school, and Hall said he enjoyed every minute of it.
“A lot of people in my high school found out, and they thought it was really cool. A lot of people don’t expect anyone to get into video games competitively or professionally,” said Hall. “But I played video games a lot in high school pretty much religiously, because I wanted to make it a career for myself.”
Hall said he developed some business ideas from competitive video gaming as a freshman in 2012. He developed a website to coach kids in becoming professional gamers. That website caught the attention of MU’s Dean of Education Daniel Clay. He contacted Hall and together they developed the idea of creating competitive gaming programs in middle schools and high schools.
“Essentially, what we’re trying to do is make competitive video gaming [an] educational tool, and we’re trying to promote it through social fitness, mental fitness, and physical fitness,” said Hall.
Hall said the program will focus on improving kids’ communication and critical thinking skills. Physical fitness may not seem to go together with video gaming, but Hall says he wants to integrate education about healthy lifestyles for gamers.
“We want to have kids realize at an early age how important it is to remain fit and healthy and how that correlates with success, because a lot of video gamers, they’re isolated downstairs [and] just play video games,” said Hall. “They don’t get off their seat for hours, and that’s not good for you.”
Hall named the project EpicEd and pitched it at a local business competition called Ignition Pitch. Regional Economic Development Incorporated, or REDI, put on the one-day pitch competition in Columbia. A total of 52 people, including students and schools sent in entrepreneurial ideas for a cash prize. In the end, Hall’s idea earned him $6,000 and first place in the at large category.
“He put together a very credible argument as to why this is a good business proposition,” said Dr. Jim Gann, the Director of Business Engagement for the Office of Economic Development. “He had an excellent team put together that would understand that space, and the judges were intrigued by what was being proposed.”
Dr. Gann was the chairman for this year’s Ignition Pitch competition. He said the competition has evolved since it started in 2011.
“Over time, it’s expanded into being more developed pitches, so instead of just an idea, it has evolved to be where you would pitch a business idea and not just a concept for a business,” said Dr. Gann.
The now nationally-recognized Stansberry twins won the first ever Ignition Pitch competition with their idea for an innovative fashion rain boot. They currently run a business called TwoAlity and ship their product nationally out of Columbia.
“What we’re trying to drive is really the entrepreneurial culture in mid-Missouri, so it’s not exclusive to Columbia, and as our increasing application numbers show, I think this event is having some success in doing that,” said Dr. Gann.
Hall said the EpicEd idea is not the only business venture he’s been involved in. A couple years ago he helped start a website called Hall Exchange, which he described as a “Craig’s List for college students.”
“So students like ourselves would post up items like the student tickets for the Mizzou game that’s going on for basketball or football, books, finding someone to sublease your apartment carpooling, etc,” said Hall.
Hall said the site gained 2,000 users over a year and a half and closed down last October. His activity in entrepreneurship has earned him recognition on campus as a member of the first class of the UM System Entrepreneurial Scholars and Interns. As a member of the class, Hall enrolled in entrepreneur-oriented classes for the spring semester and will start a 10-week paid internship in the summer.
Hall said the experience, along with his other business ideas, helped Hall in his development for EpicEd. Now, he hopes to keep his EpicEd idea running beyond his college years.
“Of course, I’ve always wanted to do financial planning,” said Hall. “But I would love to make this a career for myself because then I’ll still be playing video games and being in the competitive scene, so you know this would be my number one choice.”
Hall and his team are planning to start up camps this summer for 10- to 18-year-old kids to see the concept in real life. He said that if it goes smoothly, he will look into creating leagues for the fall.