Raleigh to Offer Medical Services to Esports Players

As esports organizations move to consolidate the location of their players, the city of Raleigh, North Carolina, is taking a new approach to hosting professional teams by launching a “medical concierge service” to teams moving to the city to compete.

The Greater Raleigh Esports Local Organizing Committee announced the program in partnership with esports advisory firm Subnation and Carolina Family Practice & Sports Medicine. During June, 16 top professional esports players from across the United States are being hosted at an undisclosed venue in the greater Raleigh region to compete online with other international players in the PUBG Mobile Pro League. That online competition is being produced by ESL for Tencent.

Under the progam, Raleigh officials are hoping to combine the city’s increasing presence in esports with the city’s medical community to offer health and wellness services while players are in the city. Those services are expected to include:

• A socially distanced meet-up with a local doctor to serve as their day-to-day contact for anything health and wellness related while they are on-site
• A weekly meal plan and consultation on nutritional needs
• Wellness advice and protocols for preventing and/or treating medical issues
• Best practices for staying healthy as esports professionals while traveling and competing remotely

“Bringing the two communities together was the right thing to do, for the players and the evolution of esports in Greater Raleigh,” said Ed Tomasi, co-chair of the Greater Raleigh Esports Local Organizing Committee and co-founder of Subnation. “Raleigh is once again raising the bar and setting the global standard for hosting esports events and activities at the professional level.”

Raleigh has been attempting to increase its presence in esports in recent years. In August 2019, it hosted Ubisoft’s Rainbow Six Raleigh Major.

Throughout the online competition, Carolina Family Practice & Sports Medicine — the official team physicians for the NHL’s Carolina Hurricanes, USA Baseball, USL’s North Carolina FC and NWSL’s NC Courage — is providing health and wellness services to the esports players for the duration of their time in the city.

“Esports professionals are no different than other athletes in that they have unique physical and mental stress points that must be monitored and addressed with professional care,” said Dr. Jim Blount, founding partner of CFPSM. “The health, wellness and safety of each player is a top priority, and we’re excited to help GRELOC and Subnation build the framework for how host cities offer a holistic approach that allows professional esports players to perform at the peak of their mental and physical capacity.”

“Asking leagues, players and/or parents to travel across the country in today’s environment can be a tall task,” said Loren Gold, executive vice president of the Greater Raleigh Convention and Visitors Bureau. “We wanted to take a proactive approach to the esports professionals’ health and wellness and are thrilled to offer this through Dr. Blount and his group’s sports medicine practice.”

The Greater Raleigh Esports Local Organizing Committee was recently formed to bring esports events, leagues, tournaments, teams, players and other related gaming activities to the Greater Raleigh area.