Palm Beach County Business | Spring 2022

Leadership in ESPORTS

MISFITS GAMING

Transforming Boca Raton into an Esports Hub

Welcome to Misfits Gaming, an 18,000-square-foot corporate headquarters in Boca Raton with a staff of 50 people who don’t look a day over 25 years old. “Gaming to me in esports really is the intersection between sports, media, technology, and entertainment,” said Ben Spoont, Founder and CEO of Misfits Gaming.

Misfits Gaming Group relocated from California to Boca Raton a couple of years ago and has since pioneered the new esports hub that Boca Raton has become.

Known as a global esports and entertainment company, it consolidated operations from Los Angeles, California, and Berlin, Germany to Palm Beach County, now being near its two teams—Florida Mutineers, the “Call of Duty” team, and Florida Mayhem, the “Overwatch” team. It also employs a stable of content creators who play games like “Minecraft,” "Fortnite", "Roblox", and more.

When asked why Palm Beach County over Los Angeles or Berlin, there were many reasons, but the top

three were quality of life, cost of living and the desire to be in the same region as the teams’ fans and community. “It also doesn’t hurt that the beaches here in Florida are pretty amazing,” said Spoont.

As you walk through the halls of Misfits Gaming’s headquarters, most walls are covered by murals completed by South Florida artists. The building includes customized, state-of-the-art game rooms where players can practice and compete, professionalized streaming rooms with stream labs and microphones, a full social media lab, and a creative studio where the company shoots videos and photos in house.

“We started Misfits Gaming because I really wanted to apply a passion for video games,” said Spoont. “I really thought about how esports and gaming truly is the next frontier of how today’s youth of Gen Z and Millennials are consuming their time.”

FAU

Opens Esports Center on Boca Raton Campus

Recognizing the growing demand for gaming experiences, Florida Atlantic University has opened a new Esports Arena in the student union of the Boca Raton campus. The high-tech environment features 40 gaming PCs with high-end hardware, more than 40 of today’s most popular games, and wall monitors for spectators to follow the action. Each station is furnished with a full-desk mouse pad and comfortable gaming chair.

“The Esports Arena offers the university community more student jobs, which leads to real-time business management learning experiences and increased student programming opportunities,” said Michael Cooper, director of the Boca Raton student union. “The arena also gives students access to tournament play (PC and console gaming, table tennis and billiards), building a new foundation for students to network and engage. It is a comfortable place that the students call home while being a part of the community here at FAU.”

Students may purchase rental access to the arena’s PC gaming computers, Nintendo Switch consoles, or Xbox One. Other console stations, ping-pong tables, pool tables, and board games are free. “Our Esports Arena is where you can play games to your heart's content,” added Cooper. “We offer a friendly space for both casual and competitive gaming.”

Along with the arena, FAU now has official esports teams for “Super Smash Bros. Ultimate,” “Overwatch,” and “Rocket League.” There is also an FAU Esports Gaming Club not directly affiliated with the arena.