On Tuesday, Stephen Curry and Andre Iguodala of the Golden State Warriors invested in an esports organization, Swift, as announced by the organization themselves. Swift is the parent company of Team SoloMid, a well-known esports team that has multiple video game players that professionally compete for the team.
These video game include Fortnite, League of Legends, PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds, and Super Smash Bros.
Curry and Iguodala are one of the many people who were part of a $37 million investment in Team SoloMid. This investment was primarily shouldered by Bessemer Venture Partners, a San Francisco and Silicon Valley-based venture capital firm, who contributed $25 million.
Bessemer is said to have recruited Curry and Iguodala alongside Steve Simon, son of Indiana Pacers owner Herbert Simon, NFL Hall of Famer Steve Young, and a bunch of other technology and sports organizations and their key personnel.
According to Bryant Barr, Curry's former Davidson College roommate and the president of Curry's Oakland, California-based SC30 Inc., Curry strongly believes in the influence of esports on future generations.
“[Stephen] believes that esports has the ability to change and influence the way future generations of people consume and engage with media and content. Steph cares a lot about his family and what that looks like for future generations. He felt like there were potential opportunities to get involved where he might be a small part of where that goes in the future.”
Barr also stated that Curry's investment was partly influenced by the rapid growth of the esports industry to which NBA ownership groups and the league itself have participated in the industry itself. This is seen in the majority owner of the Warriors, Joe Lacob, along with his son Kirk, the assistant general manager of the team, having won a bid for a permanent slot in the North American League of Legends Championship Series. Since then, the Golden Guardians in that league was launched.
Currently, Team SoloMid is one of the most popular esports teams worldwide. This is mainly due to the stellar play of their League of Legends players which have won the team multiple championships. It will be interesting to see other NBA players like Curry and Iguodala eventually venture into the esports industry in the near future.
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