Dignitas is making moves in North American esports by beefing up its presence in various competitive scenes and bolstering its content lineup.
The ownership group for Dignitas revealed today that it raised $30 million in Series A investments and formed a new parent company for the organization called New Meta Entertainment (NME), which will help cover its esports teams, all content, and marketing.
This main purpose of this round of funding was to complete the merger with Clutch Gaming while also providing the organization with extra capital to make everything go smoothly. Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment and Fertitta Entertainment, the two controlling shareholders in the organization, orchestrated the deal to acquire Clutch’s League of Legends team, which holds a spot in the North America’s LCS.
Although the organization has been in control of the team since June, this begins the official rebrand of all teams under the Clutch banner to Dignitas for the 2020 season. Dignitas already fields teams in other major areas of competition, including Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, Rocket League, and Super Smash Bros., so this is just another way of expanding its reach even further.
“NME’s shareholders provide a strong competitive advantage given their success in operating professional sports teams and entertainment assets,” newly-named NME CEO Michael Prindiville said. “Our shareholders embrace the vast potential of esports, gaming and digital entertainment, and we will be leveraging their resources, relationships, and brand insights to grow the NME and Dignitas brands.”
The new parent company, NME, is also going to help the team branch out while it continues to bring on talented content creators and focus on expanding. The organization has already signed a few popular YouTubers like Kunnu Shofu and transitioned longtime streamer and Smash Melee player Hugo “HugS” Gonzalez into its new strategy.
After building a new 3,000-square-foot gaming and content production studio in Newark, New Jersey near some of the owner’s other buildings in the area, the team began helping its creators move out to the area. This new focus on content seems to be a common theme among NA esports teams—TSM and Complexity Gaming have made similar efforts at their facilities.
