Harena Esports is helping to put on the Esports Combine where esports athletes get recruited by colleges.
Harena Esports is helping to put on the Esports Combine where esports athletes get recruited by colleges.
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Harena Data creates 5 businesses that support amateur esports

Harena Data has a complex business with five different ways to support amateur esports and sports. CEO Derek Pew acknowledges that complexity, but he notes the National Football League is complex as well, and it’s doing pretty good. And the company is announcing a couple of big projects today, including the Esports Combine event coming this fall and the Cognisat virtual reality analytics platform.

It may sound like a lot for a startup to do, but Pew notes that everyone wants esports to rise to the level of traditional sports when it comes to the engagement of fans and increased revenues. He says Harena doing all it does is similar to what the NFL undertakes to ensure there is strong community support for football and a disciplined way to surface the best talent.

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Written by

Dean Takahashi

Dean Takahashi is editorial director for GamesBeat. He has been a tech journalist since 1988, and he has covered games as a beat since 1996. He was lead writer for GamesBeat at VentureBeat from 2008 to April 2025. Prior to that, he wrote for the San Jose Mercury News, the Red Herring, the Wall Street Journal, the Los Angeles Times, and the Dallas Times-Herald. He is the author of two books, "Opening the Xbox" and "The Xbox 360 Uncloaked." He organizes the annual GamesBeat Next, GamesBeat Summit and GamesBeat Insider Series: Hollywood and Games conferences and is a frequent speaker at gaming and tech events. He lives in the San Francisco Bay Area.