Before eSports became one of the most talked about sectors of the sports industry in 2016, Los Angeles Rams offensive lineman Rodger Saffold placed his early bet on the sport.
In 2013, Saffold attended a Major League Gaming eSports competition and was immediately hooked with the non-traditional sport and new form of entertainment. The now 28-year-old Saffold decided to invest in Rise Nation Gaming, a team that now competes in the Call of Duty World League.
At the time, Saffold was the first NFL player to enter the eSports arena and own a team. A self-proclaimed Call of Duty fan, he recently told ESPN that when he first began his NFL career in 2010, he started paying close attention to gaming.
“When I started figuring out that eSports was growing, and I saw they were all over the internet on Twitch — when I saw that there were these huge events — I was like, ‘OK, I need to get into this,’” he said.
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Through his involvement the last few years — which has coincided with the early stages of his NFL career — he has been able to relay some learnings from the gridiron and in turn, better coach Rise Nation when he is able to interact with the players.
“Being a leader, grinding (through practice maneuvers) … they always say prior proper planning prevents piss-poor performance,” he said.
Saffold has also served as an educator for Rams’ teammates and other athletes interested in gaming and potentially wanting to formally get involved. The Bedford, Ohio native said that he is always receiving questions from teammates about his team and bringing fellow players to tournaments.
“That’s kind of my job, to try to broaden the horizons of athletes to kind of get into this and see a new sport forming,” Saffold said.
Around last month’s Call of Duty World Championships in Los Angeles, Saffold said his involvement with Rise Nation Gaming has still remained a passion project, and he isn’t too focused on a return on his investment quite yet.
“Now, seeing it’s growing and going into the right direction, I’m going to want to try and hold on to this as much as I can,” he said.