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Cooperating with the venture capital firm SierraMaya360, the new place should include a studio, an arena, offices, a LAN center, and a training facility.
It would also be used for hosting eSports tournaments and technology camps.
Bringing the traditional sports atmosphere to eSports
Mike “hastr0” Rufail, the owner of Team EnVyUs, hopes to create a venue similar to those dedicated to traditional sports, so that the public can watch – and potentially participate – in events in the same way as they would with traditional sports.
“We are in the later stages of taking a round of funding from SierraMaya360, which is a local investment firm,” Rufail told Yahoo Esports in a recent article.
He continued:
“They are very involved in Hollywood, sports, and entertainment and they’re very passionate about eSports. They’re helping us bring in strategic investors and professional sports team owners into the space.
They’re also very in tune with what we have going on in the scene and how the sport is going and they’re paying very close attention to it. They emulate the same passion that we have for eSports and that’s very important to us.”
Amish Shah, SierraMaya360’s managing partner, said the investment should also help Team EnVyUs in many ways, including continuing to build brand awareness, hiring more support personnel in marketing, sales and content creation, and securing more sponsorships.
“We are really excited to make Mike’s vision a reality in Charlotte and the city has grasped the idea of having another pro sports team alongside the Panthers and Hornets.” said Shah. “We will be bringing world class players to Charlotte and give them a place to live and practice when they come to the states.”
Working closely with the city of Charlotte
Both companies have been working closely with the Charlotte Chamber of Commerce, making sure the project’s future is secured. After spending seven years in North Carolina, Rufail sees his home turf as the ideal place for the next phase of his organization’s growth.
“Being in North Carolina is comfortable for us,” he said. “Charlotte is the second fastest growing city in the United States. It’s an amazing place for young people to live and certainly our demographic is kind of the younger crowd who appreciates the modern lifestyle. Charlotte is very much that.”
Shah also added that there are ongoing discussions about local and state incentives to support the investment.
Team EnVyUs – a diversified eSports organization
The competitive gaming organization has active rosters in several popular eSports titles: Call of Duty, CS:GO, Gears of War, Halo, Overwatch, Smite, and Starcraft.
According to Rufail, the team is projected to bring in over $1 million in annual revenue in 2016.
Most recently, the organization’s CS:GO squad placed first at the Global eSports Cup Season 1, showing dominance over Team Dignitas with 3-0.
They are among the 24 teams invited to compete at ELEAGUE, an eSports project by Turner Broadcasting and WME/IMG which will feature a $1.2 million prize pool.
