76ers Acquire Two Esports Teams
National Basketball Association (NBA) team, Philadelphia 76ers’ ownership group has announced it has acquired two eSports teams, Team Apex and Team Dignitas.
The teams will be merged under the Team Dignitas banner and compete in League of Legends, Counter Strike: Global Offensive, Overwatch and Heroes of the Storm, with the 76ers handling the day-to-day operations including player recruitment, marketing and sales.
It marks the first time that a North American sports franchise has bought into eSports and its ownership the first traditional sport team to own an eSports team. Football clubs in Europe including Manchester City, West Ham United, Valencia CF and Vfl Wolfsberg are already investing in eSports.
Dignitas managing director Michael O’Dell will continue with the new, Sixers-owned Dignitas as the team’s president and Dignitas manager Greg Richardson serving as chairman, while former Apex co-owner Michael Slan serving as vice president and general manager.
“There are 250 million people watching eSports events this year,” said Richardson. “What staggers me is not just that number, but how passionate these people are. Not only are there a lot of them, but they’re spending an inordinate amount of time, with the average user spending ninety minutes a day on eSports.”
