Maya McFadden Photo
Saturday's Madden tournament players.
On Super Bowl weekend, six teams battled to stay alive through elimination rounds in a tournament in a Hamden parking lot — inside a trailer primed to hit the road to offer young people fun stuff to do.
Business partners and brothers Adrian Pate and Jamel Linen are working toward officially launching a business called “On The Spot Entertainment,” a traveling game bus, in that trailer to give back to their community.
A sneak peak of what the game bus offers was on display in the rear parking lot of the Bible Gospel Center in Hamden Saturday. The brother duo hosted a video game tournament of Madden NFL.
A dozen adult friends of the brothers gathered in the bus Saturday with eyes glued to multiple TV screens with controllers in hand. The group formed six teams for the single elimination tournament.
For the next two months Pate and Linen plan to host small gatherings like Saturday’s in the trailer to “work out the kinks” of the service. The brothers are joining forces with friends Alex Pollen and Joel Pate to launch.
In April the team plans to officially launch rental services for the trailer for New Haveners and beyond.
Check out the mobile game trailer on Instagram here. Bookings can be made in advance for events happening after April 1.
The traveling game bus is equipped with five 50-inch TVs, one 65 inch TV, a Playstation 5, Xbox series X, and a Wii. It can hold 15 to 20 people for movie nights, video game tournaments, karaoke, or live TV group sessions.
The team hopes to partner with community organizations and schools to bring entertainment right to youth.
“We all need an outlet,” Pate said.
Recently “On The Spot Entertainment” hosted a movie night for youth to watch Sing 2. A dozen children joined together in the rainbow LED lit room with individual baskets of snacks.
During the school year, the team plans to introduce a weekly after-school program for students housed in the trailer for youth to de-stress, play with friends, and have access to entertainment after school.
“We want to make this home for everyone,” Linen said.
The trailer will also be available for events like birthday parties and spa nights for all ages.
“This will be an outlet for more than games,” Pate said.
Pate updates Madden tournament elimination chart.
The team has been running a nonprofit called Hands For Help since 2015.
After renting a trailer for a video game event for their nonprofit, the trio saw the excitement it brought to the youth and decided to invest in making it into a business that brings out the community’s inner child.
Linen and Pate grew up playing video games like NBA Live together. They knew how helpful it was to have access to entertainment to relax and have fun. “We were all about the Nintendo and Playstation,” Pate said.
Maya McFadden Photos
Brothers Jamel Linen and Adrian Pate: making entertainment accessible to all.
The team had a family member in South Carolina build the trailer.
Once officially opened, the trailer will offer masks and hand sanitizer to guests.
The next scheduled community event is a flag football tournament in Branford in April.
The trailer offers access to hundreds of video games and can be booked for specific themes.
Bookings and questions can be made via email to [email protected] or (203)503‑4529.
Soon-to-be custom wrapper "On The Spot Entertainment" trailer.
I don't want to be the wet blanket but what does the fire marshal have to say about this set up? Is there more than a single exit? I can't tell from the pictures and if there is, is it unlocked?