Riot Games is planning to pay out $10 million in a settlement. Now take those winnings and get more female presence in the esports industry! Read more below.
Riot Games has officially agreed to pay more than $10 million to former female employees in a settlement for a gender discrimination lawsuit. Both plaintiffs and defendant have agreed to the terms, but things now need to be approved by the court.
Background: Back in November 2018, two women (one still working at Riot) filed a class-action lawsuit that alleged women at Riot were “denied equal pay” and had their “careers stifled because they are women.” As things picked up steam, approximately 1,000 self-identified women became involved with the suit. Riot felt that it had a “strong position to litigate,” but obviously they went with the smarter approach and settled so that they could “move forward.”
Show me the money: The women involved with the suit will each receive a portion of the settlement amount, with tenured and full-time employees receiving more.
The news just broke of Liquid’s defeat against Astralis in the best-of-three finals for the ECS eighth season. However, both teams had relatively little time to rest after this stressful match, because they immediately had to pick up and fly from Texas to Denmark. Why for? Because ESL Pro League season 10 finals!
Cutting it close: Liquid’s general manager informed the public that the team will likely arrive for EPL just one hour ahead of their first game.
Learning from the past: This isn’t the first time that teams haven’t had much chance to rest after a tournament. The exact same thing happened two months ago at ESL One New York when Evil Geniuses beat Astralis in the grand finals and then both teams had to immediately depart for Sweden to attend DreamHack Masters Malmö. EG struggled at the event and finished at the bottom, whereas Astralis won their initial matches and got some time to rest.
Keeping busy: Many CS:GO pros have already talked about the busy professional circuit calendar. Lukas “gla1ve” Rossander said they’ll likely be “extremely jetlagged” in Odense. He also hinted that Astralis may skip one event in the future even if they’re finals like ECS and ESL Pro League. Liquid’s Jonathan “EliGe” Jablonowski, on the other hand, thinks “the CS schedule is completely terrible and it seems like there’s no fix in sight.” While it would be better if tournament organizers provided their schedule for the whole year in advance, such planning isn’t likely to happen.
There may be no rest for the professional, but it’s better than no tournaments for the professional.
Beasley Broadcast Group is a Naples, Florida-based company that owns more than 65 radio stations throughout the United States, along with being publicly traded. They’ve only just now purchased the Houston Outlaws as a way to diversify their holdings and “connect with […] our audience.”
Those that came before: Immortals Gaming Club divested the Outlaws because they already owned the Los Angeles Valiant. Ownership of the Outlaws was only done as part of a broader acquisition of prior owner Infinite Esports & Entertainment. However, league rules prevent an owner from having stakes in two different franchises.
Financial deets: Terms of the Outlaws deal haven’t been disclosed. However, ESPN previously reported in July that an earlier offer for the team fell through, which amounted to $40 million. The original buy-in price for OWL franchises in 2017 was reportedly $20 million.
We just had our latest MAINGEAR gaming backpack giveaway drawing! The lucky winner is Juana from Santa Ana. Congrats for winning and we’re grateful for everyone’s support!
Sad you missed out? Don’t worry. We’re doing more drawings every Tuesday! So if you aren’t a previous winner,you’ve already been thrown back into the drawing for our next backpack giveaway! Stay strong, your time will come!
We’ve covered before that Torque Esports, WinView, and Frankly Media had gotten together to form ENGINE Media Holdings, effectively the first-ever company of its kind “dedicated to live news, sports, and esports.”
What’s it mean: ENGINE stands for “esports, news, gaming, interactive network, engagement.” This new entity will manage and distribute content in addition to meeting the interests of advertisers and brands related to the content.
Who’s who
Riot Games just announced that they’re downsizing the Oceanic Pro League ahead of the 2020 season. Not only does this mean the league no longer receives an operating subsidy, but the guarantee for minimum player wages is also going out the door.
Previous requirements: The previous minimum player salary requirement was $10,000 per year. However, the new rule removes that requirement and effectively means players may not even receive a salary going into 2020.
Now we can finally begin our Oceanic team and pay players with IOU’s and disappointment.
Speaking at CNBC’s Evolve summit in Los Angeles, Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotic suggested that the company could grow to 1 billion users within the next 5 years. The company currently has 350 million users across 190 countries, and Kotick points to the growth of mobile and ‘social gaming’ as the primary drivers moving forward. Put simply, we agree.
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Roundhill believes that esports and video games are the future of live media, sports and entertainment. $NERD is the first pure-play Esports ETF (exchange-traded fund), offering exposure to 25 global esports and digital entertainment companies.
Investing involves risk, including the potential loss of principal. For a prospectus and holdings, click here. Foreside Fund Services, LLC, Distributor.
Congratulations again to Juana from Santa Ana for winning our latest backpack giveaway!
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We’re giving away a free gaming backpack every Tuesday to people who sign up here.
To start, you’ll get three entries in the drawing. Want more? Then refer friends, follow us on social media, and more.