In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Houston’s only professional esports team, the Outlaws, in conjunction with the Harris County – Houston Sports Authority and the Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals® (CMN Hospitals) have partnered to encourage families to play at home… to game at home… with the #GamingTogether Initiative.
The Overwatch League’s Houston Outlaws are the premier gaming organization in the City of Houston and represents the San Antonio, Austin, & Houston markets with great pride. #GamingTogether presents an opportunity to bring gaming and family interaction to the forefront in the city, while simultaneously supporting and promoting traditional sports & physical activity during this time of shut down and quarantine.
The city-wide video-based gaming public service effort, designed to bring Houstonians together, will officially launch on April 9th and will feature some of the most prominent names in esports gaming, arts, sports, media, and music in H-Town. Proceeds will benefit Extra Life, CMN Hospitals’ fundraising initiative within the gaming community. On a local level, Texas Children’s Hospital, a Children’s Miracle Network Hospital, is among the hospitals participating in the program.
Proceeds from the initiative will be used for protection equipment and ventilators to care for kids who are sick and an anticipated influx of COVID-19 patients, charitable care for families and child life resources, virtual care to enable patients to recover from home and research in the fight to find COVID-19 cures and treatments.
#GamingTogether is designed to appeal to everyone… anyone in the community that can take time to connect with their loved ones by playing a game – kids, parents, grandparents, roommates, business leaders, gamers (amateur/pro), athletes (amateur/pro), celebrities, fans, competitors, people struggling with quarantine, people with a bored state of mind, people hungry for content, families with multiple children, & more!
Here\’s how it works:
- Gather your friends or family members that you are social distancing or quarantining with during these times
- Pick a game – whether it’s a video game, card game or traditional board game
- Record your group in action (up to :30 seconds max) and upload your video to Outlaws.gg/GamingTogether
- After you submit your video, you will receive a thank you email with an invitation to visit and donate to the Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals.
Be sure to get Q’D UP on HoustonSports.org with Patti Smith every Thursday night, beginning on Thursday April 9th at 7pm CST as she interviews Houston’s biggest sports legends and current players to find out everything they’re thinking about, including COVID-19, and see if your video made it onto the show! You can also check out the website to see your video and other submissions. Feel free to share your video on social media!
“The Houston Outlaws are thrilled to be in partnership with the Harris County – Houston Sports Authority to launch this city-wide #GamingTogether campaign,” said Outlaws Chief Operating Officer Lori Burgess. “Through our joint efforts, we intend to celebrate a renewed sense of family and community during this challenging time by bringing Houstonians of all ages together to play games at home in the spirit of competition while supporting CMN Hospitals, which includes our local Texas Children\’s Hospital.”
Burgess added, “We hope that our #GamingTogether effort will bring some much needed entertainment into the community- especially to those kids that are in our nation’s children’s hospitals fighting their own battles while separated from their families, as they struggle to heal without the daily contact of family members.”
“The Harris County – Houston Sports Authority has outstanding relationships with every Houston pro sports team,” said Houston Sports Authority Chief Executive Officer Janis Burke. “Partnering with the City of Houston\’s new and only professional esports team, the Houston Outlaws for the #GamingTogether effort to benefit CMN Hospitals, including Texas Children\’s Hospital, is a terrific opportunity for everyone from our local sports community to provide some financial relief, entertainment, and inspiration during this unprecedented time to families across our county and country.”
“We are thrilled to have the Houston Outlaws and the Harris County – Houston Sports Authority supporting Extra Life by raising funds and awareness through their #GamingTogether initiative locally and nationally,” said Extra Life Managing Director, Michael Kinney. “The donations we raise for the Children\’s Miracle Network Hospitals COVID-19 Impact Fund will help the 170 CMN Hospitals working across the United States and Canada have the resources they need to keep families safe during the COVID-19 crisis.\”
To make a donation or learn more about Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals, please visit:
About Houston Outlaws:
The Houston Outlaws are a professional Overwatch Team that is part of Beasley Esports — a division of Beasley Media Group, LLC; a subsidiary of Beasley Broadcast Group, Inc., which operates 64 stations (46 FM and 18 AM) in 15 large and mid-size markets in the United States. As a company, we are committed to creating high-quality cross-platform content for consumers; catering to esports and video game fans and fanatics. Beasley Esports brands include the Overwatch League’s Houston Outlaws, CheckpointXP, CheckpointXP on Campus, and Team Renegades. www.Outlaws.gg
About Harris County – Houston Sports Authority:
The Harris County – Houston Sports Authority oversees the bond debt service on the professional sports stadiums and is the agency on record to handle the sports marketing efforts for the region to include bidding for prominent events and hosting the annual Houston Sports Awards and Hall of Fame dinner. www.Houstonsports.org
About Extra Life:
Extra Life is a Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals fundraising program within the gaming community. Participants fundraise year-round and pledge to play their favorite games with one goal in mind: to save and improve the lives of sick and injured kids. Funds raised stay local to help pediatric patients at 170 Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals across North America. Since 2008, Extra Life has raised more than $70 million for member hospitals. The movement, formed by gamers bonded by passion, is committed to saving and improving the lives of local kids. Play games, heal kids and join the community today at www.extra-life.org.
