Aussie Business Purchases eSports Team "Dire Wolves"

eSports is not a new term to seasoned gamers as it has been around for a long time. For those of you that aren't sure, eSports in a form of organised online video game competition that is in a large official capacity. The most common genres for the eSports scene are first person shooters (FPS), multiplayer online battle arenas (MOBA) and fighters. Without any doubt, the biggest title in the world to be smashing the eSports scene is League of Legends by Riot Games.

Riot Games Oceania has announced today that an Australian business group has purchased the majority stake of the League of Legends Oceanic Pro League (OPL) eSports team, the Dire Wolves. Check out the official announcement and details below.

"Riot Games Oceania announced today that Australian sports business group, Guinevere Capital, has purchased the majority stake of League of Legends Oceanic Pro League (OPL) esports team, Dire Wolves - marking the first major investment deal in an OPL team.

Guinevere Capital has acquired the controlling interest in the Dire Wolves, sponsored by LG, with the plan to level up the team and drive its future success on the world stage using its experience in traditional sports.

Backed by business investors, Guinevere Capital is helmed by Managing Director, David Harris, who has 15 years experience in sports management and has worked across top Australian, UK and International sports organisations, including the NRL, international and domestic cricket, English Premier League and Football League. With the wealth of experience and resources Guinevere Capital brings from traditional sports, its impact on the team and league is expected to be significant.

“The OPL is becoming increasingly popular for investors and sponsors as the league and esports continues to grow in Oceania. Investors help establish a support network for the players, which in turn sees the quality of performance increase in the team and the league, so it’s great to have Guinevere Capital on board with Dire Wolves,” said Daniel Ringland, Head of Esports at Riot Games Oceania.

“Guinevere Capital are committed to Dire Wolves’ long term vision in building a serious sporting franchise that fans can passionately support and will last for many years to come. We want to raise the bar of professionalism in esports locally and help an Oceania team break-through to Worlds to play for an audience bigger than the population of Australia,” said Mr Harris.

“I’m thrilled to have Guinevere Capital on board and look forward to working very closely with them to further legitimise and push Oceanic esports forward. Not only resources, but also the sporting and business expertise that David and his team bring will provide significant value to our players, fans, existing and future sponsorships,” said Nathan Mott, Founder and CEO of Dire Wolves

Guinevere Capital’s investment follows a recent international trend of traditional sport clubs, players/ex-players and team owners investing esports teams.

Sports clubs including, the NBA’s Philadelphia 76ers (purchased Apex and Dignitas), German football club Schalke 04 (purchased Elements) and Spanish football club Valencia FC (created esports team Valencia CF) have all recently invested in esports team. Other esports investors include NBA stars Rick Fox (created team Echo Fox) and Shaquille O’Neal (investment in NRG Esports), NBA Boston Celtics player Jonas Jerebko (purchased Renegades) and just announced last week, Los Angeles Dodgers co-owner Peter Guber, Washington Wizards owner Ted Leonsis and NBA alum Magic Johnson (controlling stake in Team Liquid).

The growth of League of Legends esports scene in Oceania, including the expansion of the competitive league into three levels in 2015 and its inclusion as a sanctioned sport with the Australian University Games in 2016, reveals a significant increase in its popularity in recent years. League of Legends recently announced that it has hit over 100 million monthly players worldwide, increasing by 33 million players since 2014, and this growth shows no signs of slowing down."

Aussie Gamers Express