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Immortals Gaming Club acquires Infinite Esports & Entertainment in a $100M USD buyout, and Sterling.VC forms a new brand for New York esports.
Missed any of the biggest esports business news last week? The TEO Monday Morning Briefing recaps the top headlines from the last seven days!
Immortals Gaming Club (IGC) announced that it has acquired Infinite Esports & Entertainment, the parent company of OpTic Gaming and the Houston Outlaws Overwatch League team. According to a release, Infinite Esports & Entertainment is valued at more than $100M USD in enterprise value, marking this the ”largest change of control transaction in esports history.”
Existing Infinite investors, including Texas Rangers co-owners Neil Leibman and Ray Davis will become IGC shareholders, with Leibman joining the company’s board of directors. According to Bloomberg, a source familiar with the terms of the transaction claimed that Immortals Gaming Club is now valued at $250M following the acquisition.
The transaction has already been approved by both Riot Games and Activision Blizzard. IGC will sell the Houston Outlaws, as one company cannot own two Overwatch League teams. The organization will oversee the Outlaws in the meantime, “as a distinct entity with its own dedicated staff,” according to a release. League representatives will also monitor Outlaws operations until a sale is completed.
Sterling.VC, the Sterling Equities fund behind the Overwatch League’s New York Excelsior, has announced the formation of a new Andbox brand to encompass its esports initiatives.
Andbox branding will be used for both the New York Excelsior and Sterling.VC’s recently-acquired New York spot in Activision Blizzard’s upcoming geolocated Call of Duty league. In a release, Andbox is described as “the first multi-franchise esports organization to represent New York in the world’s preeminent esports leagues.”
In addition to overseeing those franchised teams, Andbox will also focus on hosting additional esports events in and around New York City, as well as creating content and developing original lifestyle and apparel products.
League of Legends developer Riot Games faces an investigation enforcement action suit for allegedly refusing to provide employee payment records.
The California Department of Fair Employment and Housing (DFEH) filed the suit in Los Angeles Superior Court on June 12, stating Riot Games has refused to provide the Department with adequate information to analyze whether women are paid less than men at the company.
In a statement given to Kotaku, Riot Games denied any lack of cooperation saying it has cooperated “in good faith” since the beginning of the investigation.
Sponsorships and Partnerships Round-Up
Dell’s Alienware brand has extended its partnership of League of Legends esports. In addition to providing official competition PC and display hardware of Rift Rivals NA vs. EU, the brand will be the presenting sponsor.
NBA Franchise Golden State Warriors has renewed its multi-year partnership with Ticketmaster, extending it to include esports teams Warriors Gaming Squad (NBA 2KLeague) and Golden Guardians (League of Legends). Ticketmaster will continue to be the official ticketing partner and a founding partner of Chase Center, the Warriors’ new sports and entertainment complex set to open this September. The partnership makes Ticketmaster the first to cover all of WGC Ventures’ brands.
Complexity Gaming announced a partnership with the United States Army that includes activations at both an Army base and Complexity’s recently-opened training center. Later this month, Complexity players and staff will welcome U.S. Army personnel to the team’s new GameStop Performance Center at The Star in Frisco, Texas.
eUnited has announced that RESPAWN, a new energy drink mix developed by hardware maker Razer, is the team’s latest sponsor. RESPAWN will sponsor an upcoming eUnited content series, and the companies are also planning activations around the organization’s teams and content creators.
