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Catalyst Sports & Media Hires Riot Games' Avi Bhuiyan To Co-Lead E-Sports Practice

Catalyst Sports & Media has hired former Riot Games employee AVI BHUIYAN as Exec VP/E-sports. Bhuiyan had spent the last two years as senior operations official for Riot’s League of Legends Championship Series, where he was the publisher’s primary liaison to teams and developed policy, strategy and tactics for the largest U.S. e-sports league. Catalyst was founded last month by former Relativity Sports execs HAPPY WALTERS and JOSH SWARTZ. Bhuiyan will work closely with BRYCE BLUM, who holds the same Exec VP title, to develop an e-sports business in brand representation and investment advice for traditional sports businesses that want to enter e-sports. Bhuiyan and Blum first got to know each other while Blum represented many LOL teams in matters with the league and started talking about working together in August. “At my time at Riot, I saw almost a market void in expertise in e-sports, in folks who were able to know about both esports and sports, so that’s why this appealed to me,” Bhuiyan said. Blum on Bhuiyan: “We needed someone who could be able to see the big picture of the space, and particularly bringing someone in with publisher experience was critical. Publishers are a really important part of e-sports.” Bhuiyan said he will revive his dormant blog, “Esports Guy,” which is how he first gained notoriety in e-sports circles.

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