It wasn’t a bad weekend on the field for the Mets, and is an announcement today more good news from a non-baseball business for the franchise? Maybe.
This morning, ReKTGlobal, Inc., a recently launched multi-faceted advisory business in the eSports and Gaming world, announced a massive expansion of its business with new silos called ReKTVenues, ReKTLive and ReKTMedia, which will help companies, teams, and leagues better understand various facets of the eSports and Gaming world.
How does this tie to the Mets? A key part of the announcement was that Sterling Select, a venture development and investment platform affiliated with Sterling Equities, a key part of the Mets ownership group, will be part of the executive team, which also includes long-term entrepreneur and eSports executive and New Jersey native Amish Shah, successful New York sports business executive Dave Bialek, longtime New York sports business insider and leading sports law expert Charles Baker, and longtime eSports media personality and gaming business expert Kevin Knocke.
Sterling Select will be represented in the business by Christopher J. Steele and Christopher Golden.
“We at Sterling Select, considered partnering with Amish in his investment in Team EnVyUs in early 2016 but ultimately decided it was too nascent and unchartered at the time,” said managing partner Steele in a statement released. “However, when Amish came to me and shared his vision for ReKTGlobal and eSports infrastructure, I determined that it was a better fit for the Select platform. Given the estimates of the growth of the industry, Select’s sees ReKTGlobal as being in the right space, at the right time with the right team, which we are excited to be an integral part of as co-founders.”
These new business platforms will help bridge the gap between the multi-billion-dollar business of traditional sports and the burgeoning business of eSports and competitive gaming. The new extensions, according to a release, will meet the growing demand of existing businesses in professional sports and entertainment, from teams and venues to brands and media companies, looking to expand and attract millennials and gamers. They will help companies interested in creating authentic media content for eSports fans, and festival and convention producers who want to bring unique eSports experiences to their events.
But what does that, or could that mean to a business like the Mets and Citi Field? With teams like the 76ers and the Bucks and Monumental Sports, the parent company of the Capitals, Mystics and Wizards, doubling down on the potential of eSports and Gaming to reach new fans and hold events, it could mean that Citi, or some business ventures tied to the Mets down the line, could be more prime for involvement in the new space than ever before. With Madison square Garden already hosting events, the Barclays Center looking for more with younger audiences, the NBA pushing forward with tis NBA 2K project and the NFL growing its interest in Madden and its demo, it would make great sense for a team and a property like the Mets to start dipping its toe in the water, even at a time when most MLB team ownership groups remain on the sidelines (although MLB Advanced Media is in the space, working with Riot Games on its lucrative franchises in eSports).
Could the Mets be first? It is still a stretch, and ReKTGlobal and its key executives in Shah and Bialek have a lot on their hands in the coming months as the fluid and volatile world of eSports evolves, but keep your eye on the orange and blue in the near future. Gaming around Flushing may no longer just be baseball.