Boston Celtics forward Jonas Jerebko is the latest athlete investing in the booming business that is eSports with the purchase of the rights to the Renegades franchise.
The Swedish international had plans to buy into the world of eSports starting in 2017, but since the deal included the rights to negotiate with the current 'Counter Strike: Global Offensive' team, in which four of the players had expired contracts, Jerebko couldn't pass up the chance.
His purchase of the Renegades is a boost to the team, as the Australia-based group was relocated to a training facility in Rochester, Michigan — coach and manager included.
Jerebko signed Call of Duty team Ground Zero, formerly under the Dream Team banner. The team will now play under the Renegades name and compete in the Call of Duty World League Championship that starts in September.
https://twitter.com/YahooEsports/status/770669585414643712
Clearly, the Celtics forward saw the potential to invest now and capitalize on the timing of events, which will allow him to monetize in his investment sooner, rather than later.
Jerebko intends to build a complete team and have them compete in League of Legends, Halo 5 and Overwatch.
As a member of the National Basketball Players Association, Jerebko intends to translate that into eSports and make sure the players he has under contract have rights and that they're respected.
"The Call of Duty players we were negotiating with were under contract last year and weren't getting paid for three to five months," Jerebko told ESPN's Darren Rovell. "That's not going to happen with me. You get a paycheck on time."
Jerebko also plans to build his teams in a more stable way, unlike how the market looks nowadays where the players in a hot streak are often signing more lucrative deals and the ones struggling are quickly dropped from the team and often forgotten until they resurface.
"There are some guys in this industry asking to do six-month contracts," Jerebko said. "There isn't stability in that."
The Boston Celtic instead plans to give one-year contracts with one-year team options to his eSports players.
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