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Rockets Hire Executive To Guide Franchise In Dealing With Competitive E-Sports

The Rockets have hired an e-sports exec to "guide the franchise into the rapidly growing world of competitive video gaming," according to Eben Novy-Williams of BLOOMBERG NEWS. Sebastian Park, who co-owned e-sports Team Archon until earlier this year and began Thursday as Rockets Dir of Esports Development, will assess how the team and Owner Les Alexander can join the $500M industry, "both as an investment and to expand the reach" of the club. That could mean "buying teams, or getting involved at the event or league levels." It also could "place the Rockets brand directly into the world of competitive gaming, a step taken by various clubs in Europe, but not yet adopted by the handful of other NBA owners who have recently invested in esports teams." Earlier this year, the owners of the 76ers purchased and merged two esports teams. Kings co-Owners Mark Mastrov and Andy Miller have also invested in a team alongside Basketball HOFer Shaquille O’Neal, while Wizards Owner Ted Leonsis and Warriors co-Owner Peter Guber "teamed up to acquire another." Park said, “The Rockets can approach this not from the perspective of a start-up, but as an organization that can make bets with the purpose of being a major player in this space” (BLOOMBERG NEWS, 12/1). ESPN.com's Jacob Wolf noted the Rockets have "shown interest" in e-sports before. Rockets GM Daryl Morey in August said that if he was "involved in any other sport aside from basketball as a career, it would be esports." He also compared e-sports "growth to 1950s basketball" (ESPN.com, 12/1).

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