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PARTNERS OVERVIEW (AS OF SEPTEMBER 2020)

We pride ourselves on building relationships of mutual gain and with an objective-oriented strategic focus. We also actively work to protect the preexisting communities in and outside of OU and find organic and collaborative ways of elevating the diverse interests of the gaming and esports communities. Take a look at the champions right in our backyard coupled with our partners that have kept our development growing, moving forward, and at a constant rate of expansion. We define partners by relationship building on a first name basis with direct coordination on efforts. If they are on this list it’s because we’ve worked with their administration first hand. Quality over quantity!

(Sept. 2020) Institutional Support Update: With OU now institutionally supporting the elevation of esports energies for strategic alignment all current partnerships will hold strong as we bring on a multitude of significant additional ones to assist in our mission goals. Stay tuned!

LOCAL PARTNERS (THE COMMUNITY PULSE)

DC and Jenna are the co-owners of Commonspace Game Cafe, the leveled up version of Oklahoma’s first board game cafe! There’s over 4,000 square feet of gaming goodness, including a console area, an arcade set up, a pool table, and hundreds of board games and RPG books! They also have an in-house kitchen so they can make goodies such as pizzas, paninis, smoothies, boba teas, and more! Of course, with the current pandemic situation, masks are required for entry, and they make sure all tables and games are sanitized after use for the safety of everyone. Looking forward to seeing folks at the gaming tables! Commonspace also has a study area with whiteboard and easy cafe access for all those study needs!

PARTNERED SINCE 2020

GetRECt is the premier League of Legends tournament operator in the Oklahoma region. Through their success, they have further expanded their reach and impact in our surrounding states. GetRECt was our very first strategic development partner starting the conversations for alignment and growth in Summer 2017. Aside from League of Legends, GR often hosts tournaments and fun programming to expand their offerings and continuously add value to the communities in the region.

PARTNERED SINCE 2017

HXC is a premier Fighting Game Community (FGC) focused tournament operate in the Oklahoma region. This 10+ year organization has put on the largest FGC focused tournament in Oklahoma called Super Bit Wars. Outside of tournament operations they are considered a community leader in the space and assist, collaborate, and bring to life events for 3rd parties and other flagship tournaments outside of Oklahoma.

PARTNERED SINCE 2017

Smashcade is a premier Smash Brothers tournament organizer in Oklahoma. Before it was ever called Smashcade, the Oklahoma Smash community actively supported its birth and growth. Smash is one of the largest single communities globally and in Oklahoma that is no different. Just like Smashcade, our venerable Sooner Smash Dojo does programming 51+ weeks out of the year and aside from these efforts they both actively support the entirety of Oklahoma’s Smash scene and abroad.

PARTNERED SINCE 2019

START is one of Oklahoma’s oldest and premier LAN centers and was founded in 2016. Their initiatives are now pushing past just being a place to hang out and chill in Eastern Oklahoma and evolving into intentional strategic development for the local K-12 and collegiate scene. Their facility is a modern gaming center with food and beverage and is a great place for socializing, developing your skills, or hosting events. Our alignment with START is in the context of strategically aligned initiatives for the elevation and advancement of infrastructure across Oklahoma.

PARTNERED SINCE 2020

BUSINESS PARTNERS (THE ENDEMIC PEERS)

In 2019, Nike US Sports Camps launched their first evolution from traditional sports camps to esports offerings. These are aimed at building well-rounded individuals in and outside of the game they are passionate about. The curriculum focuses on individual skill growth, team-based synergies, and healthy living standards to assist young 12+-year-old gamers grow their skillsets on their path to being better, collegiate incentivization, or pro sector affiliation.

PARTNERED SINCE 2020

As an expansion of Amazon’s Twitch dynasty, Twitch Student partners with student organizations to create a revenue opportunity that helps advocate, supports growth, and fosters creativity. Our original proposal to Twitch Student was to do a cooking show bringing video game food to life. We gained partnership status before we even went live for the first time. While the cooking show no longer exists leveraging Twitch is a cornerstone to our Production and Streaming Entertainment departments.

PARTNERED SINCE 2017

Uconnect Esports was born from years of experience being in the exact same place we are but at Texas A&M. Through the very early days of collegiate development, their Owner & CEO has helped ease one of the biggest challenges for student organizational leaders to find resources that incentivize participation and bring the cool factor to campus events. By streamlining the sponsorship workflow to a form with very clear requirements for deliverables, Uconnect empowers student organizations to gain a lot of momentum almost immediately at the event conception phase of planning.

PARTNERED SINCE 2019

INTERNAL PARTNERS (THE INSTITUTIONAL SUPPORT)

OU Admissions & Recruitment focuses on reaching out to prospective students whether that be upcoming high school senior or transfer student continuing their degree plans. While OU does NOT offer scholarships at this time for anything within our organization we do offer a wide range of academic programs across the university that can be incentivized through advising and discovery. We’re actively working towards the dream of you coming to OU on a scholarship to be the next great esports athlete, streaming persona, casting icon, production expert, community leader, or business developer!

PARTNERED SINCE 2020

OU Career Services advocates for internships, career opportunities, and awareness of prospects to a big pool of employers for OU students and alum. Since day one, tangible career development opportunities have been an important component of our mission. We have exciting news coming for the Fall 2020+ semesters in regards to these topics.

PARTNERED SINCE 2020

OU Fitness & Recreation houses wellness-focused programming for the entire University of Oklahoma community. They advocate for life-long health and wellness leveraging exercise, intramural programming for engagement, and advocate for healthy living. As the landscape of physical activity has changed in 2020 we have partnered to bring official esports intramural offerings to campus through their institutional integration coupled with our production, tournament operations, and specific community expertise.

PARTNERED SINCE 2020

OU Informational Technology is our current sponsoring department. We strategically tapped the shoulder of OU IT due to its agnostic nature, relationship building across every department at OU, and strategic harnessing of technology for foundational support. It has paid off exponentially as it has afforded us introductions across campus leveraging the IT department network of relationships to get past ice breaking and get right into value-adding collaboration for all of OU.

PARTNERED SINCE 2018

Every university has a department focusing on student engagement. OU Student Affairs is just that. This department is responsible for creating the pathways for our elevation on campus as well as becoming the first university branded esports development in the Big 12. There is tons more to come with this collaboration and we can’t wait to keep you in informed along the way.

PARTNERED SINCE 2020

INTERNAL PARTNERS (THE ACADEMIC CO-DEVELOPERS)

ABOUT

Academic curriculum and research has been our game plan since conception in 2016. Stay tuned as we slowly reveal all the efforts we’re working on to create academic opportunities for current and prospective students. – Oct. 2020