Is San Francisco Giants outfielder Hunter Pence going to be a professional esports player following his days in Major League Baseball? It’s one of the questions he fielded on the #AskGaryVee video show and podcast with Gary Vaynerchuk, founder of digital agency VaynerMedia.
“I’m a gamer. … I don’t know if I’m going to be a professional gamer because they’re incredibly talented and on a next level,” said Pence in response to Vaynerchuk asking if he was going to have a double athletic career.
“There was a time when I could have been professional at World of Warcraft, not that it’s like a professional thing. … What I want to be involved in potentially is, I love Twitch streaming, but I love tournaments. So, hoping to run tournaments. We’re opening a coffee shop that’s going to be a coffee shop, board games. I love Magic Gathering.”
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Pence, who is an investor in North American esports organization Cloud9, didn’t elaborate on the coffee shop mixed with gaming and board games, when it would be opening and where exactly or who he meant by “we’re.”
On the show, the two-time World Series champion was joined alongside by his wife Alexis Pence, who is also an avid Twitch streamer and gamer herself in addition to being a YouTuber. When asked by a Twitter user how will professional sports change in the next 10 years, the Pences both chimed in with similar opinions.
“I think esports will be as big a competitor, if not bigger, to baseball, football, to the normal mainstream sports that we know now. We’re going to consider it just as big of a sport,” Alexis said.
Added Hunter: “I definitely think esports is going to grow huge. … The live streaming of it is going to be a big deal. I think (Gary) said it pretty much, ‘Phones are the new TV.’
“It’s so fun to see a live (esports) event.”
The 34-year-old Pence isn’t alone as an athlete — either current or former — who is interested in esports. Brooklyn Nets point guard Jeremy Lin endorses a Dota 2 team and is also a recent investor in gaming platform Plays.tv. Also, Boston Celtics forward Jonas Jerebko became the owner of esports franchise Detroit Renegades last August.
Similarly, ex-NBA guard Rick Fox is the owner of Echo Fox while former teammate Shaquille O’Neal is an investor in NRG eSports along with MLB analyst Alex Rodriguez and current free agent Jimmy Rollins. Former NFLer Hank Baskett is also a co-owner of Denial eSports.