El Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) confirmó que iba a entrar en los deportes electrónicos hace pocos días, el club de fútbol francés se alió con Webedia y Bang Bang Management en este nuevo proyecto, ahora ESPN ha desvelado su primer movimiento.
Según estas informaciones el primer juego por el que apostará el PSG será el League of Legends, para ello comprarán el club Team Huma. Las cifras de esta compra rondarán los 70.000$ y otorgará al club francés una plaza Challenger Series.
Huma actualmente no cuenta con ningún jugador en su plantilla y el dueño, Behdad Jaafarian, fue sancionado por Riot Games tras algunos impagos a los jugadores, esta situación los obligaba a vender y parece que el mejor postor ha sido el PSG.
Este será el segundo equipo de fútbol con representación en las grandes ligas de Riot tras la entrada de Schalke 04, sin embargo en este caso el PSG no manejará directamente el equipo sino que dará permiso para que sea usada su imagen y nombre, así que serán las empresas asociadas las que lleven las riendas al ser más experimentadas en nuestra industria.
French online media company Webedia and its subsidiary company Bang Bang Management have purchased Team Huma's League of Legends European Challenger Series spot from previous owner Behdad Jaafarian for approximately $70,000 and will brand the team as Paris Saint-Germain eSports next season, industry sources tell ESPN.
The news comes after Webedia announced that it received a license to build an esports umbrella using the name, logos, images and brand of France's largest soccer club, Paris Saint-Germain, as reported by French newspaper Le Figaro.Jaafarian and Huma were banned from ownership in August in any Riot Games-affiliated league due to breaching their team agreement by failing to pay required minimum compensation to players and live up to contractual obligations. Riot Games then forced Jaafarian to sell Huma.
Jaafarian has told former players and staff that he will compensate them using money earned from the sale, according to sources close to those individuals.
The deal with Huma was negotiated and finalized by Bang Bang CEO Sasha Brodowski, sources say. Brodowski and Bang Bang are best known in the French esports community as a talent agency, representing League Championship Series players Bora "Yellowstar" Kim of Fnatic and Steven "Hans sama" Liv of Misfits. Bang Bang also does marketing work for esports teams Fnatic and HyperGames.
Webedia has a history in online media and esports. In 2014, the company acquired a license to operate IGN France and Brazil, alongside American group Ziff Davis. Around the same time, the company began its partnership with esports team Millenium. Months later it purchased the controlling interest in Millenium. It's currently uncertain how it will manage its relationship with Millenium while running Paris Saint-Germain's esports banner.
Paris Saint-Germain's brand entrance comes as the second soccer club to be involved in the League of Legends space. In May, German club FC Schalke 04 acquired European LCS team Elements and its roster. While Paris Saint-Germain's deal is similar, it will not directly own the team and will only license their name for its use.
Jaafarian and Bang Bang did not reply to a request for comment by the time of publication.
http://www.espn.com/esports/story/_/id/17770456/team-huma-branded-paris-saint-germain-name-webedia-bang-bang-management