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Esports Fund Raises $38M From Investors Including Kevin Durant And Odell Beckham

Esports Fund Raises $38M From Investors Including Kevin Durant And Odell Beckham

Vision Esports, an investment fund focused exclusively on professional video gaming, has finished a $38 million funding round led by Evolution Media, the firm founded by Creative Artists Agency and TPG Capital.

It’s one of the bigger efforts to gather money in the fast-growing esports industry.

From Bloomberg. Story by Eben Novy-Williams

Other new Vision Esports investors include baseball’s St. Louis Cardinals, Giants wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. and NBA All-Star Kevin Durant. They join the New York Yankees, whose investment was announced last year.

With the cash influx, Vision Esports becomes the largest shareholder in its three properties: Echo Fox, the esports team founded by former NBA player Rick Fox; Twin Galaxies, a stats and ranking company; and Vision Entertainment, which produces esports video content.The firm’s long-term goal is to have a business interest in all parts of the esports industry, says Managing General Partner Stratton Sclavos, a former San Jose Sharks co-owner.

“I saw this with the Sharks—the relationship between the leagues, the teams, the broadcast rights, the sponsorships and advertisers, and the media rights licensing,” Sclavos says. “We believe esports is pro sports, and is going to do that exact same thing. So we want to touch all those economic drivers.”

For a few years, Esports has been the investment du jour for traditional sports owners and tech ventures. The influx of money has drastically changed the world of professional video gaming.

Read more at Bloomberg.

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(AP Photo/Michael Conroy)