WACO, TX — Experts tell us, there's "gold in them thar video games".
Those who study so-called "e-sports" say revenues in the business jumped almost 27 percent this year..... to 1 point 1 BILLION dollars.
Now, a Waco entrepreneur with a background in gaming has begun taking Central Texas by storm, to become the biggest player on the block.
But while Nexus e-sports looks to its future, it also pays special attention to the up-and-coming young gamers who can take themselves, and Nexus to the next level.
"I might start to get better at Lego games and I do like "robot," said 5-year-old
Brylee Ann Degner could become the Serena Williams of video gaming.
While experts say women make up almost half of gamers at 44 percent, far fewer go into e-sports professionally.
Brylee polishes her skills at downtown Waco's Nexus e-sports.
"Because I get to play my favorite games. I really like Mario Cart," she added
Her Mom, Megan Bradley, likes the variety of gaming platforms here.
"They've got PlayStation, x-box, pc games, VR - which I thought was really cool. She enjoys VR," said Bradley.
And boy, does Brylee like virtual reality.
Entrepreneur Zach Krizan worked for years on websites before taking the idea of Nexus, from the virtual world to a Waco landmark.
"And then, one day, I was like, I'm tired of doing websites, let's do a brick and mortar place," he explained.
The result impressed gamers and others with its wide-open spaces along with more intimate confines.
"We want to look very high-end or professional. That's kind of the idea we're going for. We want it to be more of a e-sports lounge or bar instead of a traditional LAN center," said Krizan.
In just one year, Nexus made its mark in Central Texas.
Nexus started in Waco with just a handful of people, moved into a building at 6th and Columbus. A year later, they've got more than 2-hundred members.
Now, Krizan, along with T.J Hurst, Sam Lan, and Tiffany Beeman, manage a brand, gaining regional and even some national recognition.
They hope, developing home-grown e-sports champions will give them "brand ambassadors".
"These players that are putting the work in, they are going to be, this is the place for them," said Krizan.
Nexus does its part by upping the competition in tournaments and getting the word out.
"We'll put all of 'em up on Twitch and you know, they're growing in numbers. We're looking for sponsors. We've got a couple of events sponsored already," Krizan explained.
Nexus invested in a place for TV production, partnering with Texas Music Cafe to stream competitions.
Soon he'll feature his tournaments on a huge main stage which doubles as a concert venue.
"This is our mach I of the stage, here at the ground base level. We're going to put up projectors, the desks the monitors, the lighting very soon," he said.
And little Brylee seems ready to take that stage... knowing that in e-sports, men and women compete on a level playing field.
She says the boys.... better watch out.
"Because I'm really good at it right now," she said, because she plans on getting better.
Experts predict the global e-sports audience will grow to almost 454 Million worldwide, this year.
That's a year-on-year growth of 15 percent.
