Orlando, Fla. (February 8, 2021) – One of the leaders in Central Florida’s growing esports industry has embraced Player Epic’s new platform for players and has joined the company as a strategic advisor.
In that role, Ryan DeVos, director, Magic Gaming, will be providing his insight and connections to launch Player Epic.
“As esports continues its growth, I truly believe Player Epic’s platform will become an essential element in the industry worldwide,” DeVos says. “I’m excited about what the future brings for this company and happy to help provide any guidance and leadership they need during this phase of growth and long-term.”
Player Epic, a client of the UCF Downtown Innovation District, looks to become a key resource for players looking to enter the professional esports ranks and for team owners looking for great amateur players to join their teams.
By using the platform, amateur players can compete against other highly skilled players in a variety of games. Based on results, the players move up and down the Player Epic ranks.
For team owners, like the Orlando Magic, they can look at Player Epic’s ranking system to find players for their teams quickly and easily.
“We cannot stress how important it is to our growth to have an advisor like Ryan DeVos on our team, not only for his business acumen, but for his vast contacts in this industry,” says Johnny Williams, CEO & founder, Player Epic. “The NBA was one of the first businesses to embrace esports and the Orlando Magic have been one of the leaders in the NBA and we plan to learn as much as we can from both of them.”
In his fourth year with the Magic, DeVos oversees all aspects of the Magic’s NBA 2K League team, Magic Gaming. DeVos’ primary responsibilities for the team include overall management of the day-to-day basketball and business operations.
Prior to joining the Magic, DeVos spent two and a half years at the NBA office in New York in the Global Marketing Partnerships group. He handled the marketing relationships for companies such as SAP, Coca-Cola and PepsiCo.
Esports continues to be among the fastest growing sports businesses, estimated to be an industry valued at more than $1.5 billion in 2023. The industry is averaging a 9 percent annual growth in viewership each year with nearly 650 million viewers, according to Business Insider.
###
For more information, please contact:
Player Epic: Johnny Williams, CEO, jwilliams@playerepic.com or (305) 345-3814.
UCF Business Incubation Program: Rob Panepinto, director, Innovation Districts Strategy and Partnerships for the University of Central Florida, 407-467-5689, rob.panepinto@ucf.edu or Alan Byrd, Alan Byrd & Associates, 407-415-8470, Alan@ByrdConnections.com
About Player Epic:
Founded in 2020, Player Epic Inc is a global gaming platform for aspiring gamers. Player Epic’s ecosphe is designed to support gamers on their journey to esport stardom. Coaching, global ranking system, wagering and the fitness initiative will be the foundation of the gaming ecosphere. For more information, visit playerepic.com.
About the UCF Business Incubation Program:
The University of Central Florida Business Incubation Program is a community resource that provides early-stage companies with the tools, training and infrastructure to become financially stable, high growth/impact enterprises. Since 1999, this award-winning program has provided vital business development resources resulting in over 300 local startup companies reaching their potential faster and graduating into the community where they continue to grow and positively impact the local economy.
With seven facilities throughout the region, the UCF Business Incubation Program is an economic development partnership between the University of Central Florida, the Corridor, Orange, Osceola, Seminole and Volusia Counties, and the cities of Kissimmee, Orlando and Winter Springs. For the 2017/2018 fiscal years, the activities of these participating firms have helped to sustain more than 6,725 local jobs and have had a cumulative impact of over $725 million on regional GDP and over $1.3 billion on regional sales. During the same period, the program has returned more than $12.00 in state and local taxes for every $1.00 invested in the program. In addition, for every $1.00 of public investment the firms also produced $118 of additional regional GDP and $226 of regional sales. For more information, visit Incubator.UCF.edu
