Ep. 2 – Spiro Khouri & Matt Low | The Gaming Stadium

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Matt Low (@matticus) and Spiro Khouri (@SpiroKhouri) from The Gaming Stadium are here to talk everything esports. The accelerated progression of the industry has opened up many opportunities for not just gamers but those who want to get involved in other areas too. From event management, to advertising, to producing original content and streaming it on Twitch, there’s lots to discuss! Listen in on our conversation, we’d love to hear what you think.

If there are brands out there that are on the fence, like oh my god, just do it. It would do so much for your brand, oh yeah. Especially if you partner with the right people.

– Spiro Khouri, The Gaming Stadium

Some of the things we discuss include:

• The rise of esports and how it’s creating limitations and challenges for local venues to be able to keep up with demand in the esports community. It’s now to the point where venues can’t handle the requirements to be able to run a tournament smoothly. This is where The Gaming Stadium will be the solution for hosting larger events going forward.
• How Twitch allows you to you share your passion, whether that’s video games, singing, dancing or just talking with other people. We also touch on how easy it is to explain live streaming and Twitch to someone who is brand new to the concept.
• Streaming is becoming more acceptable the more media coverage it gets and the more people start doing it and talking about it in general conversation. This acceptability also leads to a shift in how people watch videos, going from watching them on cable tv to streaming them on demand.
• There are differences between casual and professional gamers and that difference even spans across the differences between games that people play.
• Advertising on Twitch and how, if done right with the right intentions, can offer many advantages to a company or brand who is looking to grow.

 

Show Notes and Links

Connect with Spiro: Instagram | Twitter  | Twitch
Connect with Matt: Instagram | Twitter  | Twitch

• Introduction [0:00]
• Matt’s origin story and how he got involved in video games [0:47]
• How Matt started running esports events [4:30]
• The progression of esports and how the local community in Vancouver has grown so quickly that it’s putting pressure on venue capacity in terms of both human capacity and bandwidth that’s actually available at the venue. [5:54]
• How limitations of current venue availability has now become an issue where venues can’t keep up with the demand. This is where The Gaming Stadium will be the solution for hosting larger events going forward. [10:01]
• High expectations of the gaming community and how The Gaming Stadium is addressing that with their new stadium, opening April 26. [17:01]
• The Pinnacle event held in December and capacity limits at that event. [18:52]
• Background about The Pinnacle and how The Pinnacle 2018 went and plans for 2019. [20:43]
• Marketing The Pinnacle and how much engagement and excitement there is in the community for a new esports focused venue. [29:14]
• When you are building campaigns to market events, it’s important to understand your audience and know where they are to be able to target appropriately. [33:37]
• Differences between casual gamers vs professional gamers and how the behaviours of each audience are different. [34:46]
• Explaining the differences between games and how certain games fall under certain categories, just like sports in the Olympics. [37:42]
• The future of streaming/ watching videos – what will live streaming look like in the next 3-5 years? [40:36]
• How can you easily explain what Twitch/ live streaming is to someone who is new to the concept? [46:35]
• Twitch and live streaming has now become a way to share what you are passionate about. [49:15]
• Advertising on Twitch. How you can use this platform to get in front of 20-30 year olds and utilize it to grow your business and promote your brand. [51:13]
• What is Matt, Spiro, Nick and Ricky’s favourite video games. [56:07]

 

 

Check out the video below if you prefer to watch our conversation: