Traditional sports luminaries acquire Team Liquid eSports

The eSports gold rush is on. Just a day after the Philidelphia 76ers became the first North American pro sports team to acquire an eSports team, a consortium of big names and high rollers from the traditional sports world has announced its acquisition of a controlling interest in the long-running multi-eSport franchise Team Liquid.

aXiomatic eSports represents dozens of parties who have formed a co-ownership group to explore the eSports market. The group includes household names like NBA Hall of Famer Magic Johnson, AOL co-founder Steve Case, and self-help celebrity Tony Robbins, but is led by two high powered sports executives: Ted Leonsis, whose Monumental Sports & Entertainment owns the Washington Capitals (NHL), Washington Wizards (NBA), Washington Mystics (WNBA), Washington Valor (Arena football) and the Verizon Center in which they all compete, and Peter Guber, co-owner of the Golden State Warriors (NBA), Los Angeles Dodgers (MLB), and Los Angeles FC (MLS) and chairman and CEO of the Mandalay Entertainment Group film company.

Guber and Leonsis will act as co-executive chairmen for aXiomatic, with Bruce Stein serving as the company's CEO. Stein has some previous experience in the gaming industry, having served a brief stint as CEO of Sony's gaming division in the mid-'90s.

Team Liquid's Steve Arhancet and Victor Goossens will continue in their role as part owners and co-CEOs of the eSports franchise, and serve as directors on aXiomatic's board.

"An important message I wanted to communicate today is that Steve and I are both on long term agreements as Co-CEO's of the company," Goossens said in a note on Team Liquid's official site. "In a way, our involvement in leading Liquid is even more assured now than when we were sole owners. There is no place I would rather be than working to bring Liquid to greater heights together with our amazing staff and players. I've now put almost half of my life into Team Liquid, and I'm ready to begin a new chapter in the ongoing story of our presence in eSports."

Since its founding in 2000, Team Liquid has competed in a wide swath of competitive game franchises, including StarCraft, League of Legends, Hearthstone, Counter-Strike, Street Fighter, Halo, and Overwatch.