CLOUD 9 RAISES FUNDING FROM ATHLETES AND PRO SPORTS OWNERS
Cloud9 Owner Jack Etienne On The Right (Photo: Activision)
TNL Take: eSports team Cloud9 funding round from a slew of investors across the Sports and Tech world finally is public.
I predicted for a while now the San Francisco 49'ers would invest in a team/athlete - but they haven't, instead investing in Plays.tv - Patriots owner Robert Kraft and Elon Musk could be potential investors.
I was pretty damn close.
Here are the Sports and Tech community that invested in Cloud9:
- San Francisco Giants Athlete Hunter Pence
- Tesla Board Members
- LA Dodgers Co-Owner Todd Boehly
- Former San Francisco 49ers Joe Montana
- NBA Athlete Andrew Bogut
- Golden State Warriors Co-Owner Chamath Palihapitiya
A few things.
First, congrats to Jack and the entire Cloud9 team for this funding. I only wish the best for eSports team owners and the hard work they've put in over years.
Here's what has and what has not been reported.
The LA Times wrote the story with the following headline with my Tweet addressing it:
My Tweet About Cloud9 (Photo: Twitter)
Probably a coincidence but the new headline is:
LA Times Changed Headline For Cloud9's Funding (Photo: LA Times)
Based on the vast number of investors and the amount raised - these are more likely small investments across the board.
Why do I say this? Because I have Cloud9's term sheet. I won't reveal the pre-money valuation as it's confidential.
While a consortium of Pro Sports owners and athletes (axiomatic) bought Team Liquid, the Dodgers invested again with their Co-Owner Todd Boehly.
If you still don't believe that traditional sports and eSports will eventually merge, there are way too many investments to not believe at this point.
I still raise the question about why an NFL team hasn't invested directly but I think I know why.
Yesterday, I spoke with NFL athlete Ricky Lumpkin for The Next Level eSports Guest Podcast and he offered his thoughts. Currently being mastered by Metro Boomin and will be out next week.
TNL eSports Guest Podcast 004 With Ricky Lumpkin (Photo: The Next Level)
There are only a few teams left in the US that have strong teams across a slew of games, experience and owners that know how to manage.
Investors, time to get that checkbook out.