*By Brandon Brathwaite*
PlayVS, a start-up created to build an infrastructure for high school esports, has announced a new Series B funding round of $30.5 million on Tuesday morning. The new infusion of capital was led by Elysian Park Ventures, a firm that operates on behalf of the Los Angeles Dodgers ownership group.
The new funding will also bring in new investments from Adidas, Samsung NEXT, and Plexo Capital.
Angel investors include: Sean “Diddy” Combs, David Drummond (an early employee at Google ($GOOGL) and now SVP of corporate development at Alphabet), Rahul Mehta (Partner at DST Global), Rich Dennis (Founder of Shea Moisture), Michael Dubin (Founder and CEO of Dollar Shave Club), Nat Turner (Founder and CEO of Flatiron Health), and Johnny Hou (Founder and CEO of NZXT).
New Enterprise Associates, Science Inc., Crosscut Ventures, Coatue Management and WndrCo will also continue their investment in PlayVS. The funding comes after PlayVS secured $15 million in Series A funding last June.
In a press release, Tucker Kain, CFO of the LA Dodgers and Managing Partner of Elysian Park Venture said of the latest: “With PlayVS, we have found a model that works, built on a powerful platform that delivers an unparalleled player experience and will have a profound impact on the future of youth sports across the country.”
In addition to the $30 million, PlayVS will launch new game partnerships with Psyonix and Hi-Rez Studios, publishers of “Rocket League” and “SMITE,” respectively. The two new game titles will be joining Riot Games’ “League of Legends.”
PlayVS will now be expanding its platform from its initial five early-access states of Connecticut (CIAC), Georgia (GHSA and GISA), Kentucky (KHSAA), Massachusetts (MIAA) and Rhode Island (RIIL) to include high schools within Alabama (AHSAA), Mississippi (MISSHSAA), and parts of Texas (TCSAAL).
Club Leagues will also be launched in five new states – Florida, Illinois, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Texas. Club Leagues will have full access to the PlayVS platform and have a similar season structure.
“We're honored to have the support of the LA Dodgers, which has one of the best ownership groups in major league sports and are one of the earliest investors in esports. They collectively share our vision for what the future athlete looks like,” PlayVS Founder and CEO Delane Parnell said in a statement.
“One of the reasons we're most excited about esports is accessibility. With this new round of funding and the addition of Rocket League and SMITE, we're able to take another huge step forward as we open the pathway for more students to compete and be recognized in the burgeoning esports industry.”
The inaugural season of PlayVs will begin in February of 2019.
Following a 2018 Supreme Court ruling year that cleared the way for sports gambling, fans in seven states can bet on the upcoming Super Bowl for the first time ー and leaders in the budding industry are anticipating the Big Game will deliver their biggest day yet. “We expect the Super Bowl to be our single biggest day in the company’s history,” Mike Raffensperger, the chief marketing officer for betting platform FanDuel, told Cheddar.
FightCamp is a new fitness company that streams boxing classes from top instructors direct to consumers. The classes can be tailored to the needs of boxers at all levels of expertise ー from newbies to punching pros said co-founder Tommy Duquette.
These are the headlines you Need 2 Know for Friday, Jan. 25, 2019.
The New York Knicks and its jersey sponsor, the website-building platform Squarespace, are doling out assists to four local businesses as part of the second annual "Make It Awards." "Partnering with Squarespace to help those entrepreneurs get their businesses to the next level was something we were very interested in doing and it's been a major hit," said MSG Sports' senior vice president of business operations, Kristin Bernert, in an interview on Cheddar.
The Delaware Blue Coats will make their debut Wednesday night at the brand new Philadelphia 76ers Fieldhouse in Wilmington, Del., and the team will share the spotlight with an arena that boasts five stories, can seat 2,500 fans, and includes three NBA-regulation basketball courts. The flashy new arena was designed to promote youth sports in the state of Delaware and the greater Philadelphia region. "It's all geared towards youth," Chris Heck, the president of the Philadelphia 76ers, told Cheddar.
The NBA is transparent about its approval of legalized, regulated sports betting ー but the league is also clearly communicating that it wants a fair share of the money wagered on its games. "It's our view that if state governments are going to be authorizing private entities, in most cases casinos, to generate significant revenue ー billions of dollars of revenue ー off of the NBA competitions, that the NBA participate in some way," said the NBA's head of fantasy and gaming Scott Kaufman-Ross.
Former Green Bay Packer Ahman Green is a four time Pro Bowler, but he's also an avid gamer. When it comes to Halo he's just another fan that looks up to professionals like Proximitty and LethuL for help with his improving his skills.
These are the headlines you Need 2 Know for Wednesday Jan. 23, 2019.
If there's one person aside from the 800,000 unpaid federal workers who is hoping the government shutdown ends soon, it's Keisha Lance Bottoms. The mayor of Atlanta is less than two weeks away from hosting Super Bowl LIII, which is a logistical and security nightmare even when the city's airport *isn't* being slowed down by mass TSA sick-outs. "I'm extremely concerned," Bottoms said of the possibility that the shutdown may continue through Super Bowl weekend.
Cloud9 has been dubbed the most valuable esports company in the world by Forbes Magazine ー a title that is thanks, at least in part, to the organization's powerhouse VP of marketing, Eunice Chen. Chen is an esports vet who has worked for industry stalwart Riot Games and even runs her own tournament production company, Heroeshype. In an interview with Cheddar Sports, she said, "there are always different ways we can break into new markets in esports and beyond."
