On Saturday, May 4th, 2024 College Esports in partnership with the City of Rancho Cordova put together a successful gaming and esports expo that rallied many enthusiasts to the Rancho Cordova City Hall, Sacramento. As proud part-sponsors of this incredible event, Gamers Change Lives Podcast cover some of the highlights from the expo in this piece.
Highlights from May the 4th — A Scholastic Gaming and Esports Expo
Photo Credit: Donna Walters/College Esports
May the 4th was set up to show the City of Rancho Cordova esports opportunities that can be accessed in esports to improve the career and workforce space, with the following achieved:
A sold out event this was, with all 500 event tickets purchased alongside all the event exhibitor booth spaces, and received media support from ABC10 and Audacy, Inc. There were over 60% (i.e. 250+) of the attendees present in the first few hours at the expo, with hundreds of families already engaging and connecting with each other.
The event saw more than 10 paid student positions created, supporting career and workforce development. A recorded amount of approximately 75 rounds of video game matches were played and the expo also recorded the highest single-day fundraising for Sac Extra Life, which is a whopping ~$700. This was raised for the UC Davis Children’s Hospital through food truck sales and on-site donations , and about 30 cosplay participants.
Going in For Local Government Support For Your Esports Event
Photo Credit: Donna Walters/College Esports
To secure space, rally a people/audience, raise funds for esports events, it is necessary to indulge your government so the burden of securing the aforementioned will not be left on your shoulders. What College Esports did with May the 4th was to reach out to the City Council of Rancho Cordova, Sacramento to inform them about the event and what they will need to have it take place. They liaised with the 501st Legion — an all-volunteer organization formed for the purpose of bringing together costume enthusiasts to operate under a collective identity, promoting the interest in Star Wars related events — to send invitations to residents and local leaders in and around surrounding neighborhoods to participate in the expo. They highlighted some of the activities that would be carried out in the event which included cosplay contests and workshops, video game tournaments and a scholastic and developers showcase. Their way of convincing residents into participating in the expo was through the gifting of lightsabers for the first sixty children who would purchase a ticket.
Seeking Local Government Support For Your Esports Business
As an esports entrepreneur, seeking support for your esports business is helpful for your esports business. This is because there are certain benefits you can enjoy should you sign up to programs that your government may have. In the case of countries such as China, The Philippines, South Korea and Indonesia, their governments are making financial investments in esports by creating facilities to host esports events in their cities, making their cities the international capitals for esports. Germany has licenses and visas issued for pro esports players to help them travel in and out for business/tournaments, and in Japan, the issue of prize winnings are being taken care of through the Japanese Esports Union (JeSU). In the US there are facilities being built and also accessible in states such as Virginia (the Esports Stadium, Arlington) to host esports events. Although there is still the global conversation on esports betting, countries such Malta, the United Kingdom, Spain, Denmark and Italy are the ones whose governments have definitive language around gambling alongside the appropriate regulations to carry it out.
Meet the Brainchild Behind “May the 4th” — Donna Walters
Photo credit: Donna Walters/College Esports
Donna “BasicTaq” Walters is the co-founder of College Esports, an organization that collaborates with schools to create after-school programs, building the college-to-career gap for students who are interested in esports. Donna helped put together the just ended “May the 4th: A Scholastic Gaming and Esports Expo”, where she made a special presentation to the City Council of Rancho Cordova stating what her event was about — a scholastic gaming and esports event that will open the city and its residents to opportunities in the world of esports through tournaments, cosplay contests and workshops, and a scholastic and developers showcase.
Donna was on Season 3 of the Gamers Change Lives Podcast where she talked about ‘Closing the College-to-Career Gap: College Esports’ Impact’. Listen to the full episode here.
Seeking local government support is allowed in ensuring esports success, and with the example set with “May the 4th”, it goes to show that fundraisers are a good way to spread word about esports programs to communities.
Gamers Change Lives Podcast is excited to see how its continued collaboration with College Esports will empower students to thrive.
Esports has helped create jobs for lots of people. Interested in knowing about the business side of esports? Listen to the Gamers Change Lives Podcast! We get experienced guests from all around the world featuring.
Written by Jeffrey Osei-Agyeman
