Celebrity Gambler: Complexity Gaming Bridging Esports and Casinos
Complexity Gaming is an eSports group that Jason Lake started in 1998. Although Jason started this eSports group in 1998, it only became professional in 2003 when two more members joined. Complexity Gaming is one of the earliest eSports groups in North America and has grown over the years to employ many gamers.
eSports gaming groups, like all sports enterprises, are sponsored by a number of organisations and individuals. However, Complexity Gaming made history on November 13, 2018, as the first United States eSports group to be sponsored by a casino.
WinStar World Casino and Resort entered into a partnership with Complexity Gaming to become their exclusive casino sponsor. As one of the biggest online casinos in the world, WinStar World Casino and Resort hopes to make competitive gaming more mainstream.
Complexity Gaming Statistics
| Name | Complexity Gaming |
| Short Name | COL, compLexity |
| Established | 2003 |
| Founder | Jason Lake |
| Owners | Jerry Jones and John Goff |
| Location | Frisco, Texas, United States |
| Followers | 83.7K (YouTube) 288.5K (Twitter) 17.7K (Facebook) 98K (Instagram) 183.1K (TikTok) |
| Complexity Gaming Favourite Casino | WinStar World Casino and Resort |
| Famous Players | Benjamin Bremer Ian Porter Patrick Price Valentin Vasilev Tyler Polchow Kristian Wienecke Will Wierzba Owen Schlatter Zakari Freedman Kyle Freedman Kelvin Eberlein |
| Game Divisions | FIFA Valorant Rocket League Fortnite Halo Apex Magic The Gathering: Arena Madden Counter-Strike: Global Offensive |
| Top Tournaments | Blast Premier: Spring 2020 European Finals DirecTVChampionship Gaming Invitational 2006 CPL Summer 2006 ESWC 2005 |
| Net worth | $25 million (estimated) |
| Quote | “WinStar is a preeminent entertainment and gaming venue, and we are excited that they’ve become our exclusive gaming partners,” by Jason Lake, CEO of Complexity Gaming. Link |
Why Complexity Is Such a Big Deal
Complexity is not just a prominent eSports gaming organisation; much of its popularity comes from the fact that it’s one of the oldest. This eSports organisation entered the professional gaming scene in 2003 with just three members. At that time, Jason Lake was still the owner of the group, and he worked as a real estate lawyer in Georgia.
During this period, he was the one exclusively sponsoring the team, and he allegedly paid up to $400,000 in expenses. However, this team saw good success and quickly won the DirecTV Championship Gaming Invitational and Intel Summer Championships in 2006. It was after this win that Jason Lake sold the budding group to DirecTV for $100,000.
After this handover, Complexity Gaming was briefly rebranded as Los Angeles Complexity and started making waves in the gaming industry. They played over 30 games and have won more than 130 championship tournaments.
The success of this team can be seen in the amount of money that they’ve accrued from their championships. Counter-Strike: GO is their strongest game, and for its championships, Complexity Gaming has won up to $1,479,630. They also won up to $904,666 in Dota 2 and $766,075 in the Call of Duty console version.
Some of Complexity Gaming’s biggest gaming teams include Evil Geniuses, TSM, and Team Liquid. With all this success, Complexity Gaming has been able to secure partnerships and sponsorships with many organisations. They partnered with H4X and WinStar World Resort and Casino in 2018, and HyperX and MSI in 2019.
This gaming organisation also entered a partnership with the streaming platform Twitch in 2020. Their original agreement made Twitch their exclusive streaming platform, but this was altered a bit in 2022. In 2022, Complexity Gaming made Twitch their official sponsorship sales partner.
Complexity Gaming Became The First Esports Team to Partner with a Casino
The 2018 partnership was between one of the oldest eSports organisations and one of the biggest online casinos in the US. This partnership made WinsStar the exclusive casino partner for Complexity.
The odds are not only in the favour of Complexity Gaming, however, as eSports is a budding arm of professional gaming. Originally, this arm of sports only appealed to individuals from the ages of 18 to 34. Now, however, you’ll find people between the ages of 35 and 54 among the demographic.
Apart from this, streaming platforms like YouTube and Twitch attract a bigger gaming audience than mainstream movie channels like HBO. WinStar World Casino and Resort wishes to reach this demographic, and Complexity Gaming is providing them with an opportunity to do so.
So, WinStar will grant the Complexity Gaming team members access to their hotels, golf courses, and other amenities. The casino resort will also provide an avenue for the gaming organisation to host its concerts.
Complexity Gaming, on the other hand, will host meet-and-greets and biannual boot camps at WinStar Resorts. The high viewership numbers that the eSports organisation commands will also allow WinStar to gain new players for their casinos. So, in this way, both parties benefit from each other.
Complexity Gamings Social Presence
Apart from its gaming prowess, Complexity Gaming is also a social organisation that is connected to its fans in many ways. These social channels are discussed below.
Complexity Gamings Twitch
Complexity Gaming commands its biggest followership from the streaming activities of its gamers. Their Twitch page has the likes of aa9skillz, repullze, diazbiffle, thiefs, luckychamu, and wagamamatv streaming on the platform. The biggest viewerships on their Twitch platform come from aa9skillz with 740K followers and diazbiffle with 582K followers.
On their Twitch handle, Complexity Gaming shares videos from Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, Rocket League, and Apex Legends.
Complexity Gamings Instagram
The Complexity Gaming Instagram page has 95K followers, with uploads from members of the team. Their Instagram handle sees regular uploads from TimTheTatman, Cloakzy, and TatmanTailgate.
You’ll also get the chance to watch clips of some of the team’s playthroughs here. However, their Instagram handle offers more than that.
It offers you a chance to meet the team members and follow them in their day-to-day lives. It allows viewers to get an idea of what life is like in the shoes of a Complexity Gaming gamer.
Complexity Gaming also promotes its partner, WinStar World Casino and Resort, on its Instagram page. They’ve posted about the gaming plazas viewers will find at the WinStar resort and their numerous online casino game offers.
Complexity Gamings YouTube
YouTube provides another chance to watch live streams of the Complexity Gaming team. Here, you get to watch some of your favourite streamers battle it out on their console or computer. If there’s a new member of the team, you also get to meet them here.
The Complexity Gaming YouTube handle also forms another advertising channel for the partnership with their exclusive online casino. It was also through this channel that they share the press conferences between WinStar and the gaming organisation. Viewers also get the opportunity to ask questions and receive answers.
The Future of eSports and Gambling
eSports was once a niche sporting activity, but now it’s gaining widespread appeal among youths and adults. The presence of streaming platforms like Twitch and YouTube has spread the appeal of eSports all over the world. eSports were officially added to the Olympic Games in 2023, supporting their worldwide acceptance.
Online gambling is a welcome innovation to traditional gambling that is slowly finding acceptance among the public. With this move from WinStar World Casino and Resorts, the line between eSports and online casinos is getting blurred.
This would open up the online betting landscape to the many fans that populate the eSports arena. It would help make the online betting space be seen in a better light than before.
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