Miami-bound: KC eSports pioneer carrying gaming industry to the Super Bowl stage
January 28, 2020 | Austin Barnes
AbdulRasheed Yahaya never doubted his non-traditional career had mileage, but the KC eSports pioneer couldn’t have envisioned it would drive him to a Super Bowl, he said — let alone one set to feature the Kansas City Chiefs.
Midwest eSports, based in Wichita, is a pipeline for collegiate and amateur players to turn competitive video games into a healthy, structured and educational sport. Its founder, Ramsey Jamoul, recently graduated from the 2019 Pipeline fellowship.
“By God’s grace, I get to be a role model to the youth, [show them] that an African American man can lead the evolution of eSports [and align it] with field sports,” said Yahaya, founder of Local Legends Gaming and chief business development officer for Midwest eSports, detailing a coming trip that will see him representing his day job — STEM and eSports — during a convening of professional athletes this Super Bowl weekend in Miami.
The presentation will focus on the intersection between STEM careers and the eSports space, highlighting opportunities for youth play in leagues and regional events run by Midwest eSports, Yahaya said.
“We’re aligning eSports with football on the most important day of any pro player’s season,” he said in anticipation of the once-in-a-lifetime trip.
“This is major. It doesn’t get any bigger than this,” Yahaya said. “Kansas City is sending its No. 1 gaming company and its pro ball team to the Super Bowl!”
Click here to read about Kansas City businesses celebrating the Chiefs historic run.
Additionally, Local Legends — Yahaya’s mobile gaming truck startup — will host a Madden NFL tournament for kids and NFL all-stars, further elevating Kansas City as an emerging eSports hub, Yahaya explained.
“I’m putting Kansas City on everyone in the industry’s radar as a premier eSports resource and no longer just a ‘flyover city,’” he said.
Yahaya closed a Westport brick-and-mortar incarnation of Local Legends after several months of operation in 2019, citing a shift in direction for the startup.
Had such events not transpired as they did, the founder isn’t sure he’d have been on track to achieve a milestone like the Miami trip, he said.
“It’s all in God’s plan. He wouldn’t bring me through anything he didn’t plan to lead me through,” Yahaya said.
Click here to read more about Yahaya’s decision to change directions.
As for the big game itself, there’s no way Kansas City doesn’t bring home the Lombardi trophy, he added.
“My Chiefs are winning 24 to 14,” he predicted.
This story is possible thanks to support from the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, a private, nonpartisan foundation that works together with communities in education and entrepreneurship to create uncommon solutions and empower people to shape their futures and be successful.
For more information, visit www.kauffman.org and connect at www.twitter.com/kauffmanfdn and www.facebook.com/kauffmanfdn
Featured Business
2020 Startups to Watch
stats here
Related Posts on Startland News
Landlord’s solution to Kansas housing crisis: 3D print his own home inventory
TOPEKA — Regularly confronted with a lack of supply in the housing market — and the subsequent higher prices — landlord and general capital investor Chris Stemler faced a multi-dimensional challenge. “I thought to myself, ‘How do I help solve an inventory problem?’ the Topeka-based Trident Homes founder said. “I know I’ve got renters who…
Just-launched retail hub gets first tenant, battling ‘blight of the heart’ on Troost corner
‘We are each other’s bootstraps’ Transforming a long-vacant building along Troost into a space for neighborhood small businesses is about empowering the entrepreneurs already living and working in the east side community, said Father Justin Mathews. The newly unveiled RS Impact Exchange — built within the renovated, 1920-built Baker Shoe Building at 3108-3116 Troost Ave.…
Hog Island to Parkville: Justus Drugstore owners docking new seafood concept in historic Parkville
The Parker Hollow builds on Chef Jonathan Justus’ mission to put small town Missouri on the menu PARKVILLE, Mo. — A bright yellow, nearly 150-year-old former Italian restaurant could become Kansas City’s go-to seafood destination with help from the world-renowned hometown culinary team behind Justus Drugstore and Black Dirt. Chef Jonathan Justus and his wife…
KC’s Enduralock secures $1.25M SpaceWERX contract to boost satellite docking tech
A Lenexa tech company has been selected by the innovation arm of the U.S. Space Force to address one of the most-pressing challenges facing military operations in the skies and beyond. Enduralock just announced its selection for a $1.25 million contract aimed at using the company’s new connector system, OneLink, to enable modular in-space servicing…