WNBA Champion Aerial Powers Breaks Barriers For Female Gamers
Gaming has seen an increase in popularity during quarantine. Nielsen reported in June 2020 that 82% of global consumers played video games and watched video game content during the height of the pandemic. The increase was highest in the U.S. (46%), followed by France (41%) and the U.K. (28%). As the global gaming industry expands rapidly, with over two billion gamers worldwide, sales are expected to reach close to $140 billion by 2021. Esports, organized video gaming events or tournaments that culminate in championships at the regional and international level, was recently valued at $950 million. According to Statista, female gamers account for 41% of gamers in the United States.
Aerial Powers, a WNBA champion player and gamer, breaks barriers for females in the gaming industry and paves the way for other professional female athletes to earn extra income.
It's a known fact that WNBA players earn significantly less than NBA players. WNBA rookies earn a starting salary of $42,000, whereas an NBA rookie earns over $560,000. Many of the female basketball players play overseas to compensate their income. Powers is part of that group. However, since entering the gaming industry and streaming live on Twitch, she is being exposed to brands that she wouldn’t necessarily be introduced to as a basketball player. At the same time, she is introducing a new demographic to the streaming platform. Once endorsement and sponsorship negotiations are finalized, Powers will be earning a lucrative stream of income.
While talking about a brand that is considering sponsoring her, Powers states, "I would have never gotten this brand thinking about sponsoring me as a basketball player. I can rock some headphones during warm-ups, but now, because I put it into esports, now I'm getting to brands that would have never thought, 'hey, Aerial Powers could be this. Aerial Powers could use this.'"
The road to Powers' professional basketball career began at Michigan State University. Due to an injury her freshman year where she had to red-shirt, she only played three years of college basketball before being drafted by the Dallas Wings.
"I finally made it to my dream," Powers smiles. "We were finally here. I'm sitting there with my brother, my dad, my mom and my head coach from Michigan State, Suzy Merchant. She's sitting there with me in a circle...I remember looking around like this is the moment that I have been working every day for...All of us gave something to the dream that I had; it was all of ours, right."
After experiencing another injury, she was traded to the Washington Mystics. Before the 2019 season, she played overseas in Guangdong, China where she won a championship. Powers then went on to earn her first WNBA Championship with the Mystics.
Powers gamed with her family long before becoming popular on Twitch. She started over a decade ago when Nintendo 64 swept the industry. As technology progressed, so did her gaming skills. It was a way for her to connect with her family while she played basketball overseas.
A year ago, her friend introduced her to the live streaming platform, Twitch. "Think about it," she states, "If you're a fan, and you don't ever get to see me up close and personal, but you know I'm going to be on Twitch, you can look through my chat and talk to me, you're going to join whether you like video games or not. It took on a life of its own. I would get on after [WNBA] games, and soon, people would be chatting about the game and the plays I made...It became a way to not only connect with my family, but with people that love me and love to see me play."
During Covid, Powers officially launched her channel, powerzsurge, where she plays NBA 2K, Apex Legends and Call of Duty. She's an affiliate of Team Liquid and has commentated for the NBA 2k League on ESPN 2. She's also a member of the Global Esports Federation's Athletes and Players Commission and also serves as a brand ambassador for the Health-e-Gamer Foundation and eFuse. More recently, she signed with the Esports and Gaming division of Ford Models Inc.
In late October of this year, Powers hosted the Powerz Up NBA 2K Tournament presented by Starburst, an all-female gaming tournament. Over 26.5k viewers tuned in and Grammy Award Winning DJ Jazzy Jeff opened up the tournament with a 30-minute musical set.
