National Basketball Association

Memphis Grizzlies co-owner Steve Kaplan increases investment in eSports team

Published Jun. 30, 2017 6:28 p.m. ET

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Owners and other key figures in the NBA , including Memphis Grizzlies co-owner and vice chairman Stephen Kaplan, have recently made investments into the esports scene trying to be a part of its growth and potential.

Memphis Grizzlies co-owner Stephen Kaplan increased his stake in the esports organization, Immortals, recently this week. This news comes after co-owner of the Golden State Warriors, Peter Gruber, purchased Team Liquid and the Philadelphia 76ers purchased Team Dignitas and Team Apex earlier in the week.

Notable NBA players Shaquille O’Neal and Rick Fox have already invested and own teams in the esports scene as well. With esports currently making $500 million in revenue as of 2015, expect more big names to invest in the league.  By increasing his investment, Kaplan is now a “major shareholder” and will join the company board. This isn’t Kaplan’s first investment, as he has invested in many other things such as being and investor at Oak Tree Capital.

Immortals houses teams in esports such as League of Legends, Overwatch, Super Smash Bros., and Counter-Strike: Global Offensive. Immortals as an organization has been pretty successful since its induction. They only recently gained a Super Smash player and Overwatch team, but the other two teams have seen a lot of success.  The League of Legends team has been very successful, finishing with a 33-3 record over the summer and spring split. Although they finished with such a great record, they struggled in playoffs and isn’t participating in the League of Legends World event which started Thursday. The Immortals Counter-Strike: Global Offensive team is fully Brazilian and had almost the same amount of success as the League of Legends team. They have placed first in both DreamHack Summer 2016 and Northern Arena 2016.

What does this mean for the Memphis Grizzlies? Not much except that one of the owners will have potentially more assets from the growing esports. Potential partnerships down the road are possible as esports events have been played in NBA arenas.

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