How Did PlayVS Founder Delane Parnell Go From the Projects to Raising About $100M? E1050, This Week in Startups

TL;DR

PlayVS founder Delane Parnell built a business that operates official high school and collegiate esports leagues, providing infrastructure, scheduling and game-publisher integrations. Schools generally pay $64 per participating player for each of two four-month seasons per school year. After 21 months, PlayVS was active in 47 states, with thousands of schools participating and more than 100,000 players waitlisted. Read on for its model, reach and growth strategy.

Transcript

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Key Insights

• "our vision at play versus is to build you know a single competitive community for people who want to play video games competitively or otherwise known as eSports online" (2:54)
• "we charge $64 per player that participates per season" (4:20)
• "we're in 47 states 20 of those states are sanctioned" (4:57)
• "we have tens of thousands of players participated in over a hundred thousand players in our wait list" (5:13)

Questions & Answers

Q: What is PlayVS?

PlayVS is a company building a single competitive community for people who want to play video games competitively. It is known for operating official high school and collegiate esports leagues.

Q: Who founded PlayVS?

Delane Parnell is the founder and CEO of PlayVS. The interview identifies him as the person who started the business in January 2018.

Q: How do PlayVS esports leagues work?

PlayVS provides league infrastructure, handles scheduling and works directly with game publishers on technical integrations. It also partners with state associations so high schools can build teams and players can compete.

Q: How much does PlayVS charge?

PlayVS charges $64 per participating player per season. It offers two four-month seasons during each school year.

Q: Who pays for PlayVS participation?

The school generally pays the participation fee. Parnell also says that some parents give the money to the school, which then makes a one-time payment.

Q: How many states did PlayVS operate in?

PlayVS operated in 47 states after 21 months in business. In 20 of those states, esports was sanctioned and received the same recognition as sports such as basketball, football and baseball.

Q: How many schools and players used PlayVS?

Parnell said thousands of schools and tens of thousands of players had participated. He also reported more than 100,000 players on the waitlist.

Q: How large was the PlayVS team?

PlayVS had approximately 50 employees at the time of the interview. Parnell described it as a pretty small company, although not by design.

Summary & Key Takeaways

• Play Versus creates competitive leagues for high school and college gamers, providing infrastructure, scheduling, and technical integration with game publishers.

• The company charges $64 per player per season, primarily paid for by the schools participating.

• Play Versus has seen significant growth, with participation from thousands of schools, tens of thousands of players, and over 100,000 players on their waitlist.