Skip to content
‹ Back to IndustriesSports & Entertainment

The Latest Gaming Merger Firmly Establishes Dallas as an Esports Hub

Mike Rufail, founder and chief gaming officer at Envy Gaming, excitedly explained the gaming merger with OpTic Gaming and how Dallas is becoming an esports hub while talking with Host Katie Steinberg. One big change from the merger will be the name of the team — the Texas-based Call of Duty League franchise Dallas…

This story was produced through MarketScale. See how Sports & Entertainment teams put it to work with Events & Onsite Capture.

·
Share

Free workspace

Turn your Sports & Entertainment expertise into content.

Record interviews, organize footage, and write with AI on a free trial of the MarketScale platform for qualifying companies. No demo required, no credit card.

Try it Free

Mike Rufail, founder and chief gaming officer at Envy Gaming, excitedly explained the gaming merger with OpTic Gaming and how Dallas is becoming an esports hub while talking with Host Katie Steinberg.

One big change from the merger will be the name of the team — the Texas-based Call of Duty League franchise Dallas Empire will be rebranded to OpTic Texas. Rufail believes the merge will be successful due to the two owners holding vastly different yet essential characteristics for running a lucrative business. Complimenting Hector Rodriguez, owner and CEO of OpTic, as a charismatic leader, Rufail is more attracted to the business operations, and he believes these traits “fills each other’s gaps.”

Jokingly, Rufail laughed, “He completes me.”

However, the primary reason behind the gaming merger is to bring two highly competitive, successful, top-tier e-sports gaming companies together to round out the fans experience.

“We’re trying to deliver an experience to the people who are watching us and supporting our team,” he explained. “It’s all for the fans.”

When deciding on the rebranding of the name, Rufail suggested that the two keep OpTic’s name since it has a bigger, global presence in the e-sport industry. As Texas-natives, the two also decided to include all of Texas instead of zeroing in on Dallas, hoping to make it more special for the whole state.

Rufail commented on his excitement of the attention the merger is bringing to the e-sports industry, hoping it will help engage more people and show competitors an example of what’s possible.

Luckily, fans and players alike are looking forward to what’s next for OpTic Texas and building a ‘home’ for its gaming family in Dallas.

“The fans are happy about it and they’re looking forward to seeing what we’re going to do together… I think they understand that we’re going to give them a good experience,” Rufail said.

More Like This Story:

After a 20 Year Professional Career, Warren Moon Had a Game Plan Post-Retirement

Why DraftKings Chose to Double Down on Microbetting

Your experts belong here

Every story in MarketScale Sports & Entertainment starts with a company putting its venue operators, production crews, and partnership teams on the record. Buyers are already reading this topic. The only question is whose experts they find.

Rights holders and partners back the operators they know, and coverage is how they get to know yours.

Book DemoSee how it works15 minutes, straight to a calendar.
B2B Weekly

The week in Sports & Entertainment, and sixteen other industries, every Monday.

Ten stories, one-line takes, five minutes. Free.

Sports & Entertainment: are you visible to AI?

Before they reach out, Sports & Entertainment buyers ask AI engines which vendors to trust. Explore how your experts, customers, and partners can become useful content for buyers and AI search.

Free Trial

You just read one Sports & Entertainment expert. Your company is full of them.

This article was produced through MarketScale. The same platform turns your venue operators, production crews, and partnership teams into the articles, video, and social content Sports & Entertainment buyers are searching for. Start a free trial and see it with your own people. For qualifying companies, no credit card, no demo required.

NPS +73 · 1,000+ creators · 38+ countries

What your free trial includes

Hands-on access to the MarketScale platform
Media requests to your crowd, remote recording, AI writing tools
No demo required. No credit card.
For qualifying companies. Company confirmation required.

More Sports & Entertainment Insights

Plano's mayor says Willow Bend is a district, not a Stars arena with parking

Plano's mayor says Willow Bend is a district, not a Stars arena with parking

Plano Mayor John Muns characterizes the proposed Dallas Stars arena site at Willow Bend as a mixed-use entertainment district with shopping, housing, offices, and hotels, not merely a parking lot with an arena. Voters will decide the venue tax proposition in November, pending release of final renderings that show the full scope of a development already approved as a base plan before the Stars expressed interest.

  • 01Willow Bend was approved as a mixed-use development before the Stars came to Plano; the arena is an addition to an existing plan for shopping, restaurants, housing, and office space.
  • 02Plano has grown from roughly 25,000 residents in 1970 to over 300,000 today, making it the ninth-largest city in Texas, and the mayor argues the metropolitan center has shifted north from Dallas toward Plano.
  • 03Plano's strategy relies on redevelopment of existing sites rather than greenfield development; past examples include AT&T's headquarters on the former EDS campus and the Kintetsu Miyako Hotel on the old JCPenney campus.

Oct 26, 2026

ROUGE at The STRAT Theater Heads Into the 2026 Holiday Season With More Than 2,000 Performances and 500,000 Guests

ROUGE, an 18+ co-ed cabaret and variety show at The STRAT Theater in Las Vegas, has completed more than 2,000 performances and welcomed over 500,000 guests since opening in April 2022, and is one of the longest-running adult revues on the Strip, according to ROUGE Las Vegas, heading into the 2026 holiday season.

  • 01ROUGE has run more than 2,000 performances and attracted over 500,000 guests since April 2022.
  • 02The show features a cast of 18 male and female performers mixing burlesque-style dance, acrobatics, and comedy Tuesday through Sunday at 9pm.
  • 03ROUGE offers an 18+ co-ed option for couples and groups that goes beyond a traditional topless revue.

Oct 21, 2026

Westmont Yard tied three new video boards to local sponsor partnerships

Westmont Yard tied three new video boards to local sponsor partnerships

Westmont Yard, a 2010-built indoor sports facility in Chicago's western suburbs, installed three video boards with Nevco Media Group and built the project around local sponsor partnerships that began with banners. Jen Gust of Westmont Yard says the facility is continuing to partner with Nevco at two of its other facilities.

  • 01Bought outright, a video scoreboard runs $15,000 to $150,000 or more before $2,000 to $10,000 of installation, by KeepTheScore's October 2026 pricing guide.
  • 02Sponsor-funded boards have a long record at schools: Daktronics says it has supported more than 1,400 schools since 2017 and that schools have funded $320 million in equipment through its program.

Oct 14, 2026

Explore More Sports & Entertainment Insights

Read more expert perspectives from across Sports & Entertainment.

Browse Sports & Entertainment Hub

For B2B teams

Your experts could be publishing here

Stories like this one run on content MarketScale captures from real practitioners. See how your team's expertise becomes coverage in Sports & Entertainment and beyond.

Book a Demo

Or call us. No forms required. We pick up. 214-945-2512