eSports

David Beckham’s New Esports Business Boost for Blue Star Capital

Published

4 years ago

June 25, 2020

Reading Time: 2 minutes

Blue Star Capital plc is pleased to announce that its investee company Guild eSports has today formally announced its global launch and association with David Beckham, an investor in Guild. Guild is developing a talent pipeline in the UK, based on the traditional academy model, with the intention that the most able esports players are coached and nurtured by industry leaders in order to attain the skillset required to compete professionally. Guild’s intention is for a roster of scouts to continually find and sign the best young talent.

Guild has established a management team of esports veterans with experience as professional players, coaches and esports media. Guild Executive Chairman, Carleton Curtis, is well-known in the industry and architect of the Overwatch League and Call Of Duty Leagues. Prior to joining Guild, he held senior esports roles at Activision Blizzard and Red Bull. His expertise complements David Beckham’s position in the world of mainstream sports to create a unique esports proposition.

Guild intends to develop into various esports disciplines over the course of the 2020/2021 season with its first team making its debut in autumn 2020 expecting to compete in the most popular titles including Rocket League, EA Sports FIFA and Fortnite. The Company’s ambition is to build a culture of excellence around its brand and digital presence.

The directors of Guild consider David Beckham’s move into esports to be a natural progression given his experience developing sports businesses, most recently through his co-ownership of Inter Miami CF in the MLS and his passion for guiding youth talent to achieve excellence. His involvement in the launch of Guild is a significant opportunity to introduce his level of professional sports acumen to the world of esports and further strengthen this evolving sport.

Guild further announces that London-based artist Fergus Purcell, creator of the iconic identity for skate wear label Palace, will design its brand and develop for it a lifestyle apparel line. Fergus has collaborated with a diverse roster of fashion designers and music artists from Marc Jacobs, Paul Smith and Alexander McQueen to 2manydjs.

Follow-on Investment in Guild

Further to the announcement of 4 May 2020, the Company advises that, pursuant to its anti-dilution rights attached to its initial investment in Guild, it is investing a further £480,000 in order to maintain its shareholding of 11.7 per cent. of Guild. The investment has been made at a price of 6p per share, which compares to the Company’s initial investment at 1p per share.

Tony Fabrizi, CEO of Blue Star said, “We are very pleased to announce today’s news from Guild regarding its global launch and the association with David Beckham. The team behind Guild is incredibly strong and gives us great confidence that the company has an exciting future.”

eSports

North Star Network Acquires Um Dois Esportes

Published

3 days ago

April 26, 2024

GamingAmericas.com

north-star-network-acquires-um-dois-esportes

North Star Network has acquired Um Dois Esportes, a sports coverage and analysis site created from the merger of Gazeta Do Povo and Tribuna do Paraná in 2020.

Julien Josset, co-founder of North Star Network, said: “Thank you to the team at GRPCOM for their faith in us to take the brand forward. Um Dois Esportes is an established and renowned site in Paraná State, and we’re excited about the challenge of developing this asset.

“We’re happy to maintain the collaboration with the existing editorial team, and look forward to working with them, bringing our unique NSN approach, to take UDE forward.”

NSN’s signing of Um Dois Esportes is the media house’s fourth acquisition of 2024, following the recent deals to purchase UK-based SportsMole and MrFixitsTips, as well as Chilean site AlAireLibre, which was announced in March.

The latest addition to the North Star media portfolio joins existing assets including Top Mercato, Afrik-Foot, and Vringe. The Paris-based company already oversees a significant Brazilian operation, delivering over 6 million sessions per month, from the likes of Trivela, Premier League Brasil and Lakers Brasil.

NSN will retain Curitiba-based journalists from the Um Dois Esportes legacy team to maintain the asset’s unique tone and popular coverage of the Paraná sports scene across site and social.

Rafael Mello, Director of GRPCOM, said: “We were surprised by the interest, and initially had no intention of selling Um Dois, but as the conversations evolved, we realised this was a serious group with good intentions. We were very happy to see our project being valued by a large international group and going global, demonstrating the quality of the content we produced.

“We’re also proud that North Star inherited our journalists, who are truly responsible for the success of the product we offer readers every day.”

Alona Shevtsova

L&G esports team founded by Alona Shevtsova won the national Dragon EC Cup tournament

Published

5 days ago

April 24, 2024

GamingAmericas.com

l&g-esports-team-founded-by-alona-shevtsova-won-the-national-dragon-ec-cup-tournament

Ukrainian esports team L&G won the Dragon EC Cup tournament, held on the 20th of April by Dragon Esports Club. Four teams competed in the tournament’s final: Lazer Cats, L&G, which received a direct invitation to the final stage, EsportsBattle, and ThunderFlash, which had open qualifiers. During the Grand Final, the L&G team competed with Lazer Cats on Mirage, Anubis, and Vertigo maps.

“This victory is a testament to the exceptional talent and commitment of our players, as well as the collective effort of our coaching staff and support personnel,” said Alona Shevtsova, founder of L&G Esports. “We are immensely proud of their accomplishments and grateful for the unwavering support of our fans.”

L&G is among the top 5 Ukrainian teams in Counter-Strike: Global Offensive. It was founded in 2021. The previous name was Leogaming, and it was created on the initiative of the famous Alona Shevtsova from the fintech sector.

The team began competing in top tournaments and almost immediately made it to the Advanced division of the ESEA League Europe competition. The team also participated in and took prizes in European tournaments such as the SCL League, WhiteBit Crypto Open, Phoenix League, and local competitions. The team players are marat2k, r0ublE, kr1vda, kL1o, OneUn1que, rji (coach).

The winners received a 50,000 UAH prize. Dragon Esports Club also prepared a 15-skin giveaway for the broadcast’s viewers.

It is worth mentioning that the L&G team created its merch items, which are available for order worldwide. To get more information about the team, visit the L&G Instagram page, Twitch, or Telegram Channel.