Before he entered the reality TV landscape, Hank Baskett was a wide receiver for the Minnesota Vikings, Philadelphia Eagles and Indianapolis Colts. These days, the entrepreneur is working with several companies, including GAEMS, and is co-owner of eSports Team EnVyUs and co-owner of GAEMS. Baskett, who’s an avid gamer, has watched as pro gaming has captivated the world over the past few years. He explains why eSports is the future and how GAEMS has built a successful business through pro gaming in this exclusive interview.

Hank BaskettHank Baskett

Why did you decide to get involved in the video game business with GAEMS?

I’ve played video games since I was a little kid going from the Atari to the Nintendo to the Genesis all the way up to the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. It’s just been something that I’ve always enjoyed doing in my spare time, even though I was very active and always outside. I still loved the opportunity to play video games. I’ve been fortunate that my generation — I’m 32 — has really seen the biggest change in the video game industry. When I was playing in the NFL I was a guy who would travel with his Xbox and play in his hotel, especially during training camp and things like that. I came across GAEMS a few years ago and thought if I had one of their Vanguards when I was traveling all of the time, life would have been so much easier. I used to have to sit there and put my Xbox in my suitcase, wrap it in sweats and pray that it didn’t get broken underneath the airplane. I love being able to just game anywhere and GAEMS makes it easier to do that.

What licensing opportunities do you see for Gaems in the NFL?

The approach I brought to (GAEMS founder) John Smith when I met him was that they have the professional gaming market cornered. Everybody is using the Vanguard — or going forward the new monitors M155 and M240 — but I told him this is the ultimate tailgate piece. Imagine fans playing Madden football in the tailgate before you a big NFL game. Imagine having the Vanguard at basketball arenas like the Staples Center. Robert Morris University is giving away full ride video game scholarships for eSports. Countless universities are creating gaming lounges within their student union buildings on campus and setting up places for students to go play video games. Imagine the amount of space you can save with GAEMS by putting 12 to 20 of our products in there and create a full-time gaming experience that you can lock up. Colleges could rent out these rooms to fraternities, sports teams and booster clubs and be able to run video game tournaments to raise money for charities on campus.

I saw you attend the NFLPA Rookie Premiere event in LA this summer.?

I’d love to be able to get GAEMS involved with the professional sports because people don’t think professional athletes and celebrities play video games. But that’s what we do in our free time. If we’re not doing charitable events or doing something related to our sport, we like to just get away from everything and play some video games. Now imagine teams being able to license our products and being able to sell them to fans, whether it be collegiate or professional. You have the teams, the players. When the players get to travel they’ll have something to do and on vacation with their families. If the kids want to have some time to play video games you don’t have to give up the hotel TV because the hotel could possibly rent our product. That would be huge right there.

At PAX Prime you had some licensed products like a Marvel GAEMS Vanguard.

We’re working on a bunch of licenses. We created some to present to potential partners. We wanted to show the creativity, and those are just the beginning of what we’re capable of doing. If you get a licensing deal, the sky’s the limit. Now imagine a movie coming out based on a Marvel or Warner Bros. or Disney property and being able to do a package with the DVD and a gaming system for the kids. You can have the whole environment where the kids get to play their favorite video games on the fastest monitor on the planet with a custom skin around it. The parents could go to the website and freely design the case. People love being able to put their own touch on things because it makes them feel like it’s truly theirs.

What role has eSports played in establishing and getting GAEMS to where it is today?

We’ve been able to solidify ourselves as the top gaming monitor on the planet. That’s huge because it’s just like as a professional athlete you want the Nikes, the Under Armours, the Adidas’ and the Reeboks. You want to associate yourself with the best, so when people are using our monitors they’re saying that we’re the best out there and that’s what you want within the eSports and gaming community. It’s all about the fans and the true players and if the community backs you and feels that you’re the best, that’s huge because these people that are using our monitors aren’t getting paid to play with our monitors and say that they’re the best. They’re requiring that they get to use our monitors to play.

What role have you seen livestreaming play in being able to get the GAEMS brand out there to a global audience?

Everybody talks about soccer and baseball, but I believe eSports — if it’s not already — within the next five years it will become the first true global sport. The ability to livestream has been huge for eSports. The Internet is becoming one of the basic necessities of life and it’s connecting and uniting people in Germany or France or Asia or South America. First it was all about social media, but now eSports allows you to be able to play with and find people who share the same passion as you that live completely on the other side of the world from you. At the X-Games this year when they added eSports, I believe it was 24 of the top 25 most trending athletes were video gamers. The first year it happened more people were excited to watch the gamers than everything else. That just shows how eSports is changing everything. Pretty soon it’s going to grow to have more followers, more avid players and more professionals than all the other sports combined.