NBA 2K Esports League Gets Commitments From 17 Teams Ahead Of '18 Launch

Seventeen NBA franchises have committed to fielding teams in the inaugural NBA 2K esports league set to launch in '18. Teams were asked to pay a buy-in fee in the low six figures to join the league, a joint venture of the NBA and Take Two Interactive, which publishes the 2K series. Teams will be operators, not owners. Brendan Donohue, the league’s newly named Managing Dir, said, “We’re excited with the reaction we got. We were hoping for half the teams to jump on board, and we got more than that. There are still a lot of teams very interested in joining in upcoming years." There are notable absences at launch, including the Rockets, who in December named Sebastian Park the league’s first Dir of Esports Development, and both L.A. teams. L.A. is an epicenter of the esports industry in North America. It is home to several major game publishers and many established esports franchises. Donohue said teams that did not sign on expressed a variety of reasons, including other more urgent priorities or full workloads managing other properties. All indicated an interest in future inclusion, he said.

WHY JOIN? Team Dignitas CEO Jonathan Kemp said the 76ers joined up to find new fans and hopefully cross-pollinate between its core basketball fan base and backers of Dignitas, the esports franchise acquired by the 76ers in September. Kemp: "The crossover works both ways. From what we know, there's an awful lot of existing esports fans who play multiple games, including sports games, and we know from our Sixers fan base, these guys have an opportunity to play (virtual) basketball on consoles in their downtime." The league and its inaugural teams will announce further details about league operations, including player acquisition procedures and competition schedules, in the coming months, Donohue said. The league would not disclose the duration of the teams’ commitment to the league. Kemp: "There’s no great long-term view or plan around what this may or may not look like in a few years, this is about trying to get this up and running."