Jonas Jerebko bought an eSports team
One of the fastest growing markets in all of sports is that of eSports. As eSports grow in popularity, many former athletes are buying into the world including both Rick Fox and Shaquille O’Neal. Now a current player has joined the club, as Jonas Jerebko has purchased a franchise according to ESPN.
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According to the story, Jerekbo was planning on buying into eSports in 2017 but the deal to buy Renegades was too good to pass up. While the entire purchase is very interesting, it is the contracts part that really fascinates me about Jerebko’s decision.
"Although Jerebko said he’s aware that esports has very much turned into the wild, wild west, he hopes he can lend credibility to the sport. That means that Jerebko, who has served as team player representative for the NBPA, doesn’t have a problem with pro gamers having rights.“The Call of Duty players we were negotiating with were under contract last year and weren’t getting paid for three to five months,” Jerebko said. “That’s not going to happen with me. You get a paycheck on time.”"
Making sure he pays his players on time is obviously important, but Jerebko won’t have a problem with that. On the other hand, Jerebko wants to lock his team into longer than usual contracts.
"“There are some guys in this industry asking to do six month contracts,” Jerebko said. “There isn’t stability in that.” Jerebko wouldn’t give dollar amounts to deals, but did say that they are for one-year with a one-year team option."
It will be very interesting to see where Jerebko takes his franchise. According to the report, he is also looking to add League of Legends, Overwatch and Halo teams in the future. While I’m not 100 percent sure, those additions seem important. Even more interesting to watch will be the impact of his career on his ownership. As a professional athlete, Jerebko will have a unique view on contracts and lifestyle compared to other owners.
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While Jerebko isn’t the biggest name in the NBA his addition to eSports is important. As a widely successful venture on Twitch and other online sites, eSports is now looking to go mainstream. With NBA players on board it is hard to see it taking too long based on ratings already.