MCV/DEVELOP News, events, research and jobs from the games industry
New sports and media agency Catalyst has launched with divisions for football, basketball and eSports, with eSports lawyer Bryce Blum leading the latter.
Blum has been around the eSports scene for a while, serving as legal counsel for companies such as Unikrn and the Renegades team. He is also used as a consultant for many legal cases in the world of eSports.
Blum has been around the eSports scene for a while, serving as legal counsel for companies such as Unikrn and the Renegades team. He is also used as a consultant for many legal cases in the world of eSports.
Blum will now serve as an executive vice president at Catalyst, as well as retaining his previous roles. This new position will see him lead the eSports department as the company looks to make key investments and partnerships with up-and-coming leaders in the space.
Blum will now serve as an executive vice president at Catalyst, as well as retaining his previous roles. This new position will see him lead the eSports department as the company looks to make key investments and partnerships with up-and-coming leaders in the space.
“The financial opportunities in the burgeoning world of esports are infinite and we believe we at Catalyst are uniquely positioned to take advantage of them,” said Blum. “I am thrilled to be working alongside such sports and media industry powerhouses as Happy, Josh and Brad, and look forward to helping transform the face of the esports world for the betterment of all stakeholders. We are also excited to add other talented, esports industry veterans in the coming months.”
“The financial opportunities in the burgeoning world of esports are infinite and we believe we at Catalyst are uniquely positioned to take advantage of them,” said Blum. “I am thrilled to be working alongside such sports and media industry powerhouses as Happy, Josh and Brad, and look forward to helping transform the face of the esports world for the betterment of all stakeholders. We are also excited to add other talented, esports industry veterans in the coming months.”
Catalyst has already secured a couple of investments with both Super League Gaming and GumGum, a leading computer vision company that offers innovative advertising and visual intelligence solutions for brands and publishers.
Catalyst has already secured a couple of investments with both Super League Gaming and GumGum, a leading computer vision company that offers innovative advertising and visual intelligence solutions for brands and publishers.
Of course Catalyst also has a traditional sports operation, where the company will act as a strategic advisor, investor and talent representative. The two co founders, Happy Walters and Josh Swartz have over 40 years of experience in the sports and entertainment world. Walters is a former NBA and NFL player agent, which has also sold companies to the likes of Sony and even produced movies including the surprisingly good We’re the Millers. Swartz meanwhile has stayed more in the sports scene, as well as investing in over 30 companies.
Of course Catalyst also has a traditional sports operation, where the company will act as a strategic advisor, investor and talent representative. The two co founders, Happy Walters and Josh Swartz have over 40 years of experience in the sports and entertainment world. Walters is a former NBA and NFL player agent, which has also sold companies to the likes of Sony and even produced movies including the surprisingly good We’re the Millers. Swartz meanwhile has stayed more in the sports scene, as well as investing in over 30 companies.
“We are very excited to unveil Catalyst today,” said Walters. “We have assembled an unbelievable team of individuals who are experts in what they do. We will leverage their experience and leadership in traditional sports and media businesses as we seek to redefine the notion of a ‘sports agency,’ capitalize on the tectonic shift of media consumption in growth sports such as global football, basketball, and esports, and make significant investments that will fundamentally alter the sports world like never before.”
“Happy first identified the opportunity in esports several years ago through our investment in Major League Gaming,” said Swartz. “We have spent a considerable part of the past year building a first class team with deep expertise in both endemic esports and more traditional stick and ball sports. Esports represents a vast and still untapped opportunity for marketers to reach an audience that is not consuming sports content the same way it has over the last 25 years.”
