Esports Company HyperX Uses Las Vegas Esports Arena to Launch Marketing Campaign
By ALAN SNEL
LVSportsBiz.com
LVSportsBiz.com photos by Daniel Clark
The California-based esports equipment maker that bought the naming rights to the esports arena at the Luxor two months ago is on a mission to grow big league video game competition into the mainstream world.
HyperX, which rolled out new headset and speaker equipment at 180,000-visitor CES in Las Vegas this week, showed off new promotional artwork that included professional sports stars Gordon Hayward of the NBA Boston Celtics, Joel Imbiid of the NBA Philadelphia 76ers and JuJu Smith-Schuster of the NFL Pittsburgh Steelers at the HyperX Esports Arena Las Vegas Wednesday night.
Enlisting mainstream sports stars who enjoy gaming is part of the “We’re All Gamers” marketing theme that HyperX is stressing.
The company, which is based in Fountain Valley, California, has 550 gamers who are also brand ambassadors. HyperX’s naming rights deal is with partner Allied Esports, which runs the esports arena under a deal with the MGM Resorts International-owned Luxor. The arena is a former club that opened less than a year ago.
Not only is an esports company like HyperX using pro sports personalities to sell and expand its brand and the video game world, pro teams like the Vegas Golden Knights understand the power of the esports demo to try and grow its hockey brand.
Case in point: In April, the Golden Knights launched the VGKTwitch Channel on Twitch.tv In fact, in June the NHL staged a hockey esports championship at the HyperX Esports Arena Las Vegas at the Luxor.
Golden Knights young players Alex Tuch, a forward emerging as a star in the NHL, and Malcolm Subban, a goalie who backs up star goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury, are gamers and have participated in media gaming events at the esports arena.
Allied Esports and the Golden Knights are forging a closer business relationship because the Knights business people realize the esports demo is a group that can be tapped for future VGK fans, said Brian Fisher, an Allied Esports spokesman.
HyperX even has a naming rights deal with a giant esports truck and rig, which is on display at the Sands Expo Convention Center at CES this week.
And HyperX is also the official gaming headset sponsor for the NBA Dallas Mavericks and Philadelphia 76ers, said Mark Tekunoff, a HyperX spokesman.
HyperX is having the official marketing campaign announcement Tuesday, when videos will be released showing the promotions. Here’s a small nugget of the promotion.
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