The Chiefs esport club partners with Bond University on Gold Coast as part of Australian-first pro gaming partnership

The Gold Coast is set to nab a slice of the $180 billion video game market as part of an Australian-first esports alliance.

THE Gold Coast is set to nab a slice of the $180 billion video game market as part of an Australian-first esport alliance.

Bond University has signed a deal with the country’s most successful esport club, The Chiefs, to open pathways for talented competitive gamers.

The collaboration including tournaments, internships and more is aimed at developing the domestic esports sector and forging a path for competitive gamers on the Gold Coast in an industry predicted to generate $A450 billion by 2025.

Sports Gold Coast chairman Geoff Smith said his organisation worked with Bond, Gold Coast City Council and others for 18 months “advising on the opportunities in this dynamic and uncharted area of sport”.

“Esport was used as an exhibition sport at the Winter Olympics in Korea and was also used as a demonstration sport at both the Asian and Asean Games and is slated to be a demonstration sport at the Tokyo Olympics later this year,” he said.

“Australia is at least seven to eight years behind countries like Korea and China in this sport and industry.”

Chiefs CEO Nick Bobir, Bond executive director of Sport Garry Nucifora (back) and Bond students Zak Kouaider and Charles Parsons (front) at the Bond Esports Hub. Picture: Cavan Flynn

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The alliance comes on the back of reports by the Bulletin that the State Government has been in talks with a promoter to build a boutique stadium on the Coast., which Mayor Tom Tate wants to include a retractable roof and facilities for the esports market.

Mr Smith said the city could reap the benefits of esport, but “must be strategic and learn from some of the costly mistakes made to date as the esport industry is evolving rapidly and what may seem to be the trend today will be completely different in 12 months”.

He said Sports Gold Coast had been advocating for an esport facility since 2015 and it was crucial the city “chooses the right location and invests in the right technology”.

“Any sports stadium built without esport facilities will be outdated by the time they are completed,” he said.

Mr Smith said a strategic plan partly funded by the council was completed in May last year and was the basis for development for a “road map” on how the city could take advantage.

Chiefs CEO Nick Bobir said: “It’s important for us to look to grow the next group of gamers and provide pathways.

Gaming will be a $A450 billion industry by 2025, research shows. Picture: istock

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“But there’s also the research aspect. We’re looking forward to working closely with the team at Bond and really diving deep into gamers in general, potentially looking at things like nutrition and psychology.”

Bond’s venture into esports ramped up when its opened its state-of-the-art Esports Hub last year, which includes a training and coaching facility, gaming machines and streaming to the university’s 500-seat theatre.

“It is great to be able to partner with an institution such as Bond University whose outlook and optimism for the growth of esports and gaming in Australia closely aligns to our own,” Mr Bobir said.

“Through this partnership we look to be able to provide growth and education pathways for the wider esports and gaming community.”

Mr Bobir said he hoped the partnership would bolster local esport talent.

Esports is rapidly growing in popularity across the world.

Bond associate professor of computer games James Birt said students would be ready for jobs in one of the world’s fastest growing industries.

“You don’t have to be an esports player to find a job in the esports industry,” he said.

Bond executive director of sport Garry Nucifora said the partnership was “just the beginning of where we want to take esports”.

The Chiefs was founded in 2014 and has won esport titles across Oceania, fielding teams in the popular PC games League of Legends, Fortnite and Counter-Strike: Global Offensive.

Pro gamers at the top of their game can rake in millions of dollars in the booming industry.

Currumbin RSL has been the first club in the city to hold weekly Australian Esports League sessions.

Esport, or electronic sport, is a form of competition using video games, which began to snowball in popularity in the 2010s.