immortals gaming club
Ari Segal was making a good living in stick-and-ball leagues when he made the jump to esports, seeing an opportunity in gaming.
Chief Executive Officer, Immortals Gaming Club
Age: 37
Born: Englewood, N.J.
Education: University of Virginia, B.A. (with distinction), history and foreign affairs; Stanford Law School, J.D.; Stanford Graduate School of Business, MBA (Arjay Miller Scholar)
Family: Wife, Corey; children, Rowan (2); baby No. 2 due in May
I get fired up by … : Competition.
Guilty pleasure: “Big Brother” on CBS.
Could not go a day without: Sriracha.
Cause supported: St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.
Persons in the industry I’d most like to meet: Mike & The Mad Dog.
Most unusual question asked while networking: “What’s the deal with e-games?”
Sports industry needs to do a better job of … : Recognizing that industry distinctions are collapsing around us in real time. Sports, media and entertainment are converging.
Sports business leaders should be more mindful of … : Authenticity. Consumers, particularly young consumers, are used to a different level of directness and transparency than has ever existed before.
You would be surprised to know that I … : Am shy at industry events.
Segal joined Immortals Gaming Club in mid-2017, originally as president and chief operations officer, before eventually moving to the CEO role in late 2018.
With prior stops at AEG, the Anaheim Ducks and Arizona Coyotes, Segal built a career in traditional sports. But in esports, Segal saw something bigger.
“It was a white space. I love stick-and-ball sports and still do. That said, unless a generational event or some sort of really significant technology changes, often times stick-and-ball sports are justifiably operating from a position of market dominance and in some cases hegemony,” Segal said. “If a [stick-and-ball] team goes from doing everything wrong to everything right, its top-line revenue will probably grow 10-20%. … [By contrast], since I joined Immortals, our revenue has doubled every year and we’re projecting it will double again this year.”
Immortals competes in esports leagues including the North American League of Legends series — the LCS — and it owns L.A.-based teams in the Overwatch and Call of Duty leagues, among other investments.
Segal noted that IGC intentionally invests across a variety of esports.
“We believe in investing in a portfolio across several areas just like any other investor smartly approaching any other market,” Segal said. [For example], we believe that LCS has achieved scale and maturity and will be very successful for many years to come. … At the same time, we want to continue to experiment with and be present for emerging tech and models in gaming.”
