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Popular Content Creator and Gamer Headlines Third Annual USF Esports Summit

By Elizabeth L. Brown

TAMPA (February 3, 2022) 鈥� Gaming content creator Jeremiah Woodward, better known as Jpw03 among his more than 100,000 YouTube fans and 30,000 Twitch followers, considers himself a 鈥渄orky guy鈥� who is 鈥渒ind of bad鈥� at video games.

Yet thousands of followers, known as members of his 鈥減ineapple family,鈥� tune in to watch him play, either through videos he posts or through live streaming. He said he鈥檇 like to see his 鈥減ineapple family鈥� reach one million people.

Woodward, who is a content creator with the Tampa Bay Lightning, gave the keynote address on Thursday at the Third Annual USF Esports Summit held at the Marshall Student Center. The 23-year-old鈥檚 speech gave a peek into the personal side of the exploding esports industry.

The summit attracted about 100 participants who gathered to learn about the business side of the $1 billion competitive video gaming industry. The summit was hosted by the Vinik Sport & Entertainment Management program at the USF Muma College of Business.

During his 45-minute talk, Woodward said he was 鈥渘ot a fan鈥� of video games before he got into gaming. In fact, he was a soccer player. But his brothers got him started playing Minecraft in high school. Soon he met a friend on a gaming server, 鈥渂onded over puns,鈥� and posted his first gamer video eight years ago.

Woodward said he believes he amassed such a large following through engagement. He answered every comment and gave nicknames to commenters who kept returning to make them feel appreciated. Over time, his community of followers became known as the 鈥減ineapple family.鈥�

鈥淚f you鈥檙e going to build a community, you have to be genuine. My community has been behind me since A-one day one, really,鈥� said Woodward, who does 鈥渁nything gaming-related鈥� with the Lightning, which includes creating digital content and running the organization鈥檚 YouTube channel.

When people are watching him play video games, he said it鈥檚 important to not take the viewers for granted.

鈥淭hese are real people watching you. It doesn鈥檛 matter the amount. That is one person taking the time to watch you,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 always try to make people feel welcome and to feel how appreciative I am of their time.鈥�

The one-day esports summit concluded with a live Rocket League esports tournament where teams from the 哔咔漫画, Florida State University, the University of Florida, and the University of Central Florida played for the championship.