Esports are becoming increasingly popular around the world. NBA star Kevin Durant agrees, and has repeatedly invested in esports teams.
With his investment company Thirty Five Ventures, Brooklyn Nets superstar Kevin Durant is getting deeply involved in esports. Having invested in Team Echo Fox some time ago, the now 32-year-old now sees new opportunities in VALORANT and Call of Duty.
So he and his team are now getting involved with the esports organization Andbox. This includes the eponymous VALORANT team, Call of Duty League participants New York Subliners and Overwatch team NYXL. With the increased publicity surrounding his name, he also wants to help the team reach more fans.
You can find out which other celebrities are active in the world of esports here.
Kevin Durant
After Kevin Durant of the Brooklyn Nets already invested in Team Echo Fox some time ago, he is now taking a new chance. With Andbox, he is now betting on VALORANT and the Call of Duty League. The exact size of the deal is not known.
Casemiro
Casemiro turns his hobby into a profession. The passionate CS:GO player has founded his first esports team, CaseEsports. With an all-Brazilian roster, the Real Madrid star wants to take off on the CS scene. His team should eventually be among the best, Casemiro said, according to HLTV.
David Beckahm
David Beckham is building a new esports team called Guild Esports. The goal is to become one of the best talent incubators for titles like FIFA, Rocket League and Fortnite. The soccer icon, along with Blue Star Capital, is said to have already invested €28 million in Guild Esports. In the fall of 2020, the young organization plans to take the leap to the stock market and become the first Esports franchise to be listed on the major London stock market.
Gareth Bale
Top Welsh striker Gareth Bale is a co-owner of Ellevens Esports along with traditional club Real Madrid. The esports organization is mainly represented in the game FIFA, but also owns a Rocket League team.
Antoine Griezman
Antoine Griezman founded his own team together with his brother Theo Griezmann. Grizi Esport is not only to compete in FIFA. It is also said to be looking for additional personnel for games such as Fortnite, League of Legends, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive and Rainbow Six: Siege.
Shaquille O’Neal
Basketball star Shaquille O’Neal is known as one of the first major investors. He invested in the esports organization NRG Gaming back in 2016. Besides a very successful League of Legends team, NRG also has a Counter-Strike squad. In 2018, the world-famous DJ Tiesto also decided to invest in the organization.
Michael Joarden
Probably the most famous basketball player in the world, Michael Jordan, is an investor in aXiomatic Gaming. His stake in the esports organization is said to be close to $26 million. aXiomatic Gaming owns, among others, the internationally renowned Team Liquid. Jordan described esports as a fast-growing, international industry during his investment
Stephen Curry
Stephen Curry has already been named the NBA’s best player twice. But his teammate Andre Iguodala is better known for investing in startups. In 2018, they invest together in the organization TSM. This esports organization was worth about $37 million to them.
Steve Young
Football Quarterback-Legende Steve Young ist neben Curry und Iguodala auch an der 37 Millionen Dollar-Investition beteiligt. TSM sagte, dass ein Teil der im Juli aufgebrachten Mittel in den Bau einer neuen 15.000 bis 20.000 Quadratmeter großen Esport-Anlage in Los Angeles fließen werde.
Odell Beckham Jr.
Odell Beckham Jr. joined Durant in the $38 million investment for Vision Esports. By his own account, Beckham has been an avid gamer since childhood, and he even recently competed against rapper A$AP Rocky in a marketing stunt for EA Sports in FIFA 19.
Mesut Özil
Since 2018, former national player Mesut Özil has his own FIFA team, M10 Esports. Mesut’s M10 have already recorded their first successes and are currently focusing primarily on the further expansion of their group
Drake
Rapper Aubrey ‘Drake’ Graham is involved with Esports organization 100 Thieves. Drake previously played the game Fortnite with popular streamer Ninja, which attracted over 635,000 concurrent viewers. The 100 Thieves currently compete in titles such as CS:GO, Call of Duty, Fortnite and VALORANT
Post Malone
Austin Richard Post, known as Post Malone, not only streams games like PUBG himself, but also co-owns Team Envy. They own a number of teams that compete in some of the biggest leagues in the world, like the Dallas Empire (Call of Duty) and the Dallas Fuel (Overwatch). Regarding his investment, Post Malone said that he grew up in Texas, the state where Team Envy was founded, and that he himself has always played games. He also said that it felt right to support Esport on its way to becoming a professional sport.
P.Diddy
Sean “Puff Daddy” Combs is also one of the backers of electronic sports. Together with a group of investors, the rapper is providing over 30.5 million to the esports league PlayVS. This investment is intended to create an infrastructure for American high schools to hold esports tournaments and provide college scholarships.
Will Smith
Will Smith invests in a number of companies through his Dreamers fund. These include gaming as well as esports organizations. In the process, large shares of Team Gen.G are said to fall into the fund.
The Weeknd
Abel Makkonen Tesfaye, known as the R&B rapper “The Weeknd” , has bought into Overactive Media, the parent company of Team Splyce (LoL) and Toronto Defiant (Overwatch). He will work with Overactive Media to produce esports content and help grow the brand.
