Esports Architect: Crafting Champions and Navigating the Pro Path with Jairo Urcuyo

We're going to be delving into the journey of becoming an eSports professional and mastering the art of brand building with the founder and CEO Vegas Inferno and Vegas Dogs . We got Mr Hyro Okuryo .

Funny enough , and I was playing college one time and my friend was playing . He's like dude , I'm graphic designing bro . I was like , oh , what is graphic design ? I have no idea what he talking about . Man , he's like , well , is this art thing ? You know the digital art and stuff like that ? I was like , okay , well , I want to get into it .

Right , I actually went to college for graphics .

So I ended up building a little by little , starting graphic design for different teams , right , and I'm like dude , all these teams , they're great and all , but there's no one out there giving opportunities , right , and it's like I'm learning management , learning business skills , I'm learning all these things from different people .

But every time I would see every single team would be never the opportunity to a small guy or the up and coming guy . I was like I want to change that . I want to start my own team where I can bring that opportunity to the undiscovered talent right , and I've seen like TV shows that discovered singers right and stuff like that .

But for eSports there isn't any . So at that time at least , I started this company four years ago . I've been in the industry for 12 years , so at that time no one really was giving opportunity . It was like one day I want to start a business that will give the next generation an opportunity , the same way I wish I had the opportunity when I was younger .

You know what did that step look like , from going into the initial design , finding the talent to try to make it into a lucrative business model ? Because I think that's the challenge , right Is how do you monetize it ?

And it's like , okay , well , we can create this content , we can do all these things and all these events , but , realistically , how are we making money , man , like it's fun , it's fun , don't get me wrong .

So why can't teams secure sponsorships like normal sports teams ? So I ended up starting reaching out to different sponsors , like , hey , we have all these creators , X , y and Z , we have these events going on . What can you guys do beyond the free product , right ? And how many ? How many people can see your guys' brand ?

And that's the biggest question always , is that how many eyeballs are on my brand and how many people are actually watching that live stream concurrently to actually see my brand on the spotlight , right ? And so I started pitching out these live stream events , these team activations , just a placer of their brand everywhere .

And at first I mean we're starting out like a couple hundred dollars , man . But at that time it's like amazing , right , yeah , a hundred dollars . So I'm playing video games , I'm making a hundred dollars .

So I ended up reaching out to more sponsors say , hey , instead of a hundred dollars , why don't we secure a year term deal with all our creators and we'll do obligations and terms and things of that nature , right ? So end up securing our first year . We had $25,000 our first year , so it's securing sponsorship . And this one is 2020 , right .

So we're crypto was booming . I mean right , so crypto was booming , man . And then after , after our second year , we're like dude , we're starting your skill . What can we do ? We're talking about 2021 . So it was . It just 99% of the of the business revenue came from sponsorships and funny , funny enough . So we we found out that sponsorships really isn't taxable .

Depending on type of what level of sponsorships through esports , it's not taxable . It's not taxable , it's . They'll write it off , you know , as a gift or whatever .

So now , leading into year four , we're trying to protect at least 150 to $200,000 in sponsorship revenue alone . So it for us , even though we're trying to accomplish that in sponsorships , 99% of esports is still sponsorships . So we are trying to change that here in Vegas . So that's why you see us at Valhalla and Ryan's like , how can we monetize from events ?

Because there's no ticketing in esports besides the majors . You're going to fly out for a couple of days and then call it a day , but there's never events every single month in esports , just like the hockey games that you see here in Vegas . You can go to a hockey game how often , right ? And those tickets you know they'll add up .

There's nothing esports like that . So we're trying we're currently trying to change the model where we don't want to be the pioneers but we want to at least do it , because no one else is doing it right now .

I've lived here since I was nine years old .

And then once in quotation mark the pandemic was gone and we were able to go outside and things of that nature . Right , we started doing in person events and raising money that way in charity .

So we started working with the Red Cross locally , gamer's Outreach I mean more in person events for Starlight Children Foundation to build gaming carts and the local hospitals for kids in Summerland .

And so we went to the mayor and we felt like something through the office just tried to get a proclamation through the mayor and like , hey , we're Las Vegas and Ferno , but we say that we're the official eSports team , but we weren't at that time and we're like , dude , how can ?

The furthest they could ever go back is January 6th of 2021 . So that's funny coincidence .

And also the community came out and we're just giving away everything Gaming chairs , merchandise , everything , you name it , man just to give back to the community . Yeah , it's super exciting .

How do you foresee that going , you know , into this next little bit to continue to grow that dynamic and grow that team and what are those competitions look like between other cities ?

And we're working with our partners to giveaways and all these things we call a duty and activation or activation . So they officially supported this whole tournament with us or this activation with us , and we're trying to get as many eyeballs on a table to our brand as possible .

And right now people don't really know who Vegas inferno is but our , but also do know who Vegas inferno . We're kind of stuck in the middle right now . So we're trying to do more live events and experiences to get more people aware .

Just the same thing that the golden nights when the golden nights came to Vegas , they put their logo on everything toaster right , Everything right yeah . So , and our thing is , is that we want to be the golden nights of eSports . Golden nights for us , lead by example . They're amazing .

I think we have what it takes to be there and we try to just replicate the model of what they're doing and what they're doing for the community Every time you see them on the news or giving away free gas at Chevron or Smiths or doing things for the community , right . So that's what our passion is to grow the brand that way Got it .

You have Twitter coming out with a live streaming platform . That's another platform . Facebook does it . What else ? Dude , kick now is the newest thing .

Right now , we're partnered on Kick over there , so that's been an amazing experience so far with us , so we're streaming as many platforms that led us Instagram again , right , it's like all these platforms to get our brand out there . Yeah .

So yeah , dude , talk a little bit about that . Like how does that work ? Like how do you get in ? That's the most eyes . That , I guess unreal .

Nick Merckx , like I said , right , yeah , and it just most of those deals go through agencies . It's never , it's rarely those craters that really handle their brand deals , unless you're first starting out . Because when you're first starting , you're just like , yeah , I'll take it , yeah , I'll take it .

And then , once you start getting bigger , you're like hold up , hold up , there's a contract involved . You're going to make me sign . How many obligations do I have ? And that's where it really gets serious , because there's levels to eSports , right , and content creation . And if you start at level one , ground up , you're like you'll take anything at that point .

And once you start growing , you're like I have to get an agent , because if I don't know what I'm , I don't even know what I'm reading . At this point , you want to protect yourself ?

Right , and that's where also we come in as an organization . We handle all the paperwork for all our craters Smart , so we make sure that the craters are taken care of . We make sure that they get a fair deal .

We work with these brands to get obligations , so we're responsible for in a sense in that way , but also working with our craters to make sure hey , you guys are happy , your brand's happy , then they'll keep working together . You know and that's another monetization tool besides traditional eSports is that we work as an agency on the back end too .

The one who doesn't necessarily isn't even that great at video gaming , but they're out here making a ton of money just through brand endorsements because they get a lot of viewership . You know how do you identify or separate those categories from being an eSports person , which is competitive gaming versus more just the eSports or video game .

I think in eSports is the same way , where not from the content route because you have people who are 65 years old still streaming , but in the eSports route you start noticing that your coordination , you know , slows down your eye movement . You can't really track things Not as good as gamers I used to be yeah .

And I mean listen , I try to tell myself all the time that , ok , I'm still my 16 year old self . It's not dude , it's even . I'm very competitive . I'm just like man dude . I wish I was 16 at this point . But , but yeah . So at that point there's times where you start turning a page in your career in eSports .

You're just , I don't have the same coordination I used to when I was 16 years old . I have to hang it up and that's where it's . You already built that brand and for us it's very important to .

When we have players that are very young , especially at 19 years old right , let them know and say , hey , we're going to build your brand with you and also introduce you to streaming .

So when , by the time , you're at the professional level and you already have that fan base , you can transfer that over to a monetization tool with Twitch or kick , whatever platform you want to do and choose from , and then you can become a content creator . Because there's no , there's no skill gap , age group being a content creator . You can be any .

You know you could do anything . You could be a content creator . So if there are , come , we try to teach them and say , listen , you're not going to be an eSports player forever , you just won't , and it's OK . You know our time eventually comes . By the time that comes , you should already build your brand so you can monetize off that branding and content .

Like kind of going to , kind of piggybacking off of Chris's point , would you recommend folks to still , or students to still maybe get that , maybe they get a free education right and maybe they still play , you know , for Vegas , inferno or somebody else . Would you recommend that route ? Or would you recommend , hey , you learn on your own .

Three of those players are UNLV students , so while they're going to school , they're balancing , competing for us Got it . So for us , we're helping them to . Hey , how's your branding ? What are you interested in ? Are you actually interested in competing or is this just a fun thing to do with your friends ? Right , and for some of them it is , and it's okay .

But for us is that we try to take it to the next level . Is that you're a UNLV student ? How are you balancing your school ? How are you balancing your life ? How are you balancing ? You know your practice time and I have a great team behind me . I mean , I don't do this all by myself . There's no way , man .

You know I wouldn't be here without my team , and it's like they . You know our eSports director , josh . He trains them , he practices with them , he makes sure that they're healthy and balanced . So it's those things , man , it's like .

I think it's important if learning eSports in a young age and getting introduced , and whether you want to learn by yourself or whether you want to learn in college with a team , you can succeed either way . Man , that's a beautiful thing about eSports , yeah , so how often ?

So they , you know , we ended up placing ninth out of you know , 18th , which almost there , but not really , you know . So it's a big mental tool . Especially these kids are very young . They're like they don't want to lose , right ? So we try to give them a break . So right now they're on a two week hiatus break .

Just go do your thing , go study , make sure you're okay . But at the end of the day , it's that we want to make sure that they're healthy man , they are healthy bro , and it's , you know , it's very important for us . So , yeah , I mean , yeah , it's a lot to it .

Some of these kids aren't even getting paid and you don't get paid till you're really at that level , at the highest level , and like college students aren't getting paid right now . And that's even scholarships , right .

Like you mentioned , for eSports , a lot of colleges aren't even giving , or a lot of colleges aren't even giving scholarships to these kids , like UNOV and other colleges don't do it , but for us it's a select few throughout the United .

States yeah it's a select few in the United States , but that's where it's important and it hits home for us is that we work with a lot of nonprofits here in Vegas and we work with UNOV and their students and eSports to make sure that if they can't do it , what can we do to fill that void ?

So we work with you know some other nonprofits called Neil Nevada eSports Educational League . So I'm a board of directors over there and we host tournaments throughout the year that's in quotation marks for the prize pool will be scholarships . So if you you're great at Super Smash Brothers , you can come play in our scholarship program . You have to be in college .

There's no pros , right , there are pros . They have to be in college studying and if you win you get scholarship money . So that's a way around it . Besides going through a traditional route with you know colleges , you go through our business and our nonprofit and there's money for your books or food or whatever you need to use them from .

You may be great at valorant , as an example , but then five years from now , nobody's playing valorant anymore , where you don't get the same exposure , the same eyes , and you spend all this effort specifically on this one game .

And but now maybe that doesn't translate to the next one , and now you're behind the ball when that next sport or the next game comes out that's what you say because you spend so much time on it .

You know how do you foresee navigating those challenges in the future and like still maximizing the impact in the very short time for they may have in a game .

But a lot of these players are now realizing well , during my offseason , what am I doing ?

You have games that are similar to it , like Counter Strike . If you guys know Counter Strike , you know it's almost similar to Valorant and the movement and the skills . But then you have games like Overwatch that came out and their leagues and what they're trying to compete in .

So I think it's difficult from a player , from a keyboard and mouse perspective , to switch over to a game like Call of Duty when it's controller dominant , because it's so hard , man .

So it's hard because , again , that's the issue that we're always going to run into is that if the game's not stable enough , then you're out of a job , and that's why , for us , it's important you're playing now .

Make sure you build your brand and make content in case those things happen , because if the game , just like you said , dies out , right , well , at least you have your brand to fall back on . You can get all these sponsorships and these brand deals and make money that way , so you don't rely on the game all the time .

And I keep preaching it to our players like stop relying on the game . Yes , master your craft , be master of the other as well .

bro . I used to compete in some online tournaments here and there , but practice has dawn on you . You know , updates happen , whether you like or not . The publisher comes out with updates and they come out with it and that's it . And you're like dude , I got to relearn the movement again .

Oh , I got to relearn what this gun does , or what this attachment does . It's frustrating . I mean , I still compete till this day .

I have war zone at time to time , like I competed at a seventy five thousand dollar tournament , like two months ago , and even that challenge , the publisher , which is Activision , came out with an update the day before the tournament . Oh fun , and we're yeah , so you've learned a certain way to get this update , dude .

It is so frustrating because you're you're like man . These guns , you know , do a certain damage . There's attachment does a certain damage and then a day or two before the actual tournament , they change it on you . Now the same gun doesn't do the same damage . Now you got to pick a different gun or pick it .

Some companies are like oh , this is perfect , I will change some wording up and call it a day .

Right , it's that if AI puts something out , you just you just spat it out . You just type whatever you need and spit it out . But there's something unique about someone drawing on a graphic on a tablet or someone designing on a computer and you see someone . That that's how they , their minds , think that they can create you know artwork and pieces to .

I don't think it will ever replace people as far as artists and things of that nature , but I think it'd be a tool to utilize for businesses to grow in the future or for artists . You know , and get some references on , you know , artworks like oh man , this was kind of what I was thinking about . Maybe I can draw it this way . Yeah , it makes sense .

Ok , so Gears of War , it's like , it's kind of like all the way , but third person , ok , but there was a event out here , mlg Vegas , and it was my first time ever . They're talking nonstop to each other back and forth , they're sitting right across and dude , I thought it was like WWUFC . That's the type of environment I was in .

I was like dude , there's no way he's talking to him like that . But they allowed to . Yeah , they're allowed to Like they'll stand up at times , like you know , it depends on the game and the publisher to , like you know , call of duty is a little bit more strict on that . Like , they'll let you talk , your talk .

But yeah , if you go overboard , it's like you know , they'll warn you , they'll give you water down , yeah well yeah , dude , there was a recently happened here in Vegas . So we did . We're at the Valorant Term at the HyperX and someone just like slammed their desk very hard . And these are brand new computers and brand new pieces .

You know a lot of money and he's talking all this mess . The TO had to let him know hey , if you don't calm down , we're gonna forfeit your team . So imagine being that player out of the five people and your team gets forfeited because you couldn't control your mouth . Yeah , that's right , Right , how would you feel it's ?

I think it's gonna be good for entry level , Like you know , kids trying to get into the industry a little bit , which I'm looking forward to , that part of it .

Hate relationship with Call of Duty , but that's my game .

They don't have that in Esports , so you can't buy . You can buy or I mean so they do have that in Esports , but it's more digital than anything . So , like publishers , like Call of Duty , you can buy skins . So there's Call of Duty leagues and you can support your teams here and there .

But if you're not a Call of Duty franchise spot , then there's no monetization on there . So in League , start at $25 million just to buy in . I'm like , where am I ?

So what can we do besides do content . I can do content without being in Call of Duty all day long . So then it's shift the focus to well , where can we monetize that ? And Rocket League was a perfect choice . So we were in Rocket League last year , wherein it was at the RLC as a professional league , and we were top five in South America .

I say South America . And you're like well , aren't you a North America team ? Yeah , but the beauty about eSports is that it's global .

and we found out . Well , rocket League allows you to put your skins in the game , meaning you can put a logo on a car , on a decal , and then you can sell that card space to sponsors , just like NASCAR , and you can sell that and you can monetize from the sponsorship and then you can double dip and monetize from the skin cells as well .

I don't know why it's taking so long , but is the you know , not crypto , but the blockchain space within , inside the gaming industry , right when you can , to your point , have a micro transaction , I can develop my own skin , sell it on a market , and then that market is limited number and you continue to develop and sell that content based on your brands of

being able to experience it . You know when I don't know . I don't know if you know the answer , but what are your thoughts on that and how do you think that that's gonna change the space ? Because for me , that's perfect for your type of business model .

Yeah , that's tough , yeah , it's super tough , but what I learned from it is that the blockchain , it's a tool to utilize for different companies , right ? I mean , I think Starbucks uses it with Polygon chain . For us is that for NFTs , we didn't believe the whole .

Oh , I have a digital art piece and Call of Day , we like the utility that came behind that artwork . It's for game , yeah . And so I started thinking , well , this was , you know , a couple of years ago , when it was hot . And it's like , well , what can we do ? So I invested in NFTs and these NFTs called GOATS .

They allowed me to own a house in the metaverse and they would get land next to , like , steve Aoki and Board of Apes . And I was like , what if we sold a house inside the metaverse sponsors ? And I was like , oh , maybe we can do that because the metaverse was hot . So imagine playing a game , because it was a game , basically right .

And you walked into our house , you see a big Red Bull logo or G-Fuel or whatever right it's like . Well , now you have .

Now you double-dipped again , because now you're branding outside of the metaverse right as a sponsor , but now you're sponsoring inside the metaverse and you're getting more eyes on your brand and , yeah , and I truly believe , I think it will be a tool in the future . I think it's still being used , obviously , like Starbucks is using . Other companies are using it .

I just don't know when exactly gaming will start using it , like Call of Duty , like the big block games , the smaller games . They'll utilize it because it's there , but nothing's gonna affect it if a big publisher doesn't get behind it , like Rock League , activision , call of Duty . Those publishers really .

Oh , wow .

Rock League is that you're able to buy this , whatever it is , and then sell it or trade it for higher things or more money if you're struggling right . So it's hard because you're fighting the publisher while you're also fighting to get into the game . So it's crazy , dude .

Epic loves that , but Epic loves that in Fortnite . But for Rock League they're like no , you can't do that .

So they later in Fortnite I mean that's a job opportunity by itself a game developer man Like you're talking about people who just wanna build islands or build 3D models inside the game Like it opens up so many job opportunities . So I really like what Roblox is doing . I like what Fortnite is doing

. I don't agree with what the publishers are doing . Yeah .

But what would be that nugget to them to be able to start their own business ?

That's how I started . I started learning graphic designing . I'm an editor , I'm a content creator . I learned photography , learned all the jobs that I took , what it takes for my business , and I was like I'm not going to pay someone if I could learn it Especially .

I mean I started realistically in esports , working at Albersons on Rainbow and Warm Springs , pushing carts at $7.25 an hour . I had my own apartment at 16 . And I was running a business at $7.25 an hour . It's crazy . And I was like I don't have the money . When you don't have the money to pay anyone , you're like well , if I don't have the money , who's ?

It's like there's someone out there that's getting better than me every single day . How can I keep winning that race ?

So I've learned throughout the years from different people . But honestly , like we talked about you know a little bit about this before , the podcast like Sean Maryman sounds great , like I've had . I have had a couple conversation with Sean and even that podcast . When we started talking we're like cool , you know we're talking all these business things .

But after that I hit him up on text . I'll call him and just ask him random questions , dude , and I'm just like you know I'm not trying to be that person like hey , you know calling you every single day , but you know I have some questions . You're a businessman , you know . I want to learn what you know .

I think Sean was a great help for me meeting him . You know a short term , a short time , that we've met each other . Another person is Joseph Lawrence or Joe Blass . He's a music producer over there HBO and Hulu and Roku and all these other things . He's really the one who's taught me keep your circle small , you know .

The bigger you get , the harder it is to really trust those people around you , right ? So it's like you know , mentoring me and when to talk , when not to talk , truly listen more than anything , and that's realistically , has helped me out throughout the business side of things .

Besides that dude , just like YouTube bro , like I mean , it's like you know , it's just the people I met , man like Morris , mario Mitchell , like all these people that have just they're great business men or women , and it's like , dude , I got , I got a step on my game . I want to learn more , you know so .

They are great people 100% we always got to ask about restaurants in Vegas . So what's your favorite restaurant ?

They're having their old school retro jerseys over there , but we're also doing an NBA Jam tournament . Oh , it's only $17 to purchase tickets and each ticket you purchase , $5 goes to Starlight Children Foundation , so we can build the card in the hospitals in Vegas . That's awesome .

I don't know how many people are going to show up this year , and if a thousand people show up , I don't know .