Madison Square Garden, Owner of Knicks and Rangers, Buys Counter Logic Gaming
It's been a good week for George "HotshotGG" Georgallidis, founder of Counter Logic Gaming (CLG) as Madison Square Garden purchased a controlling stake in his eSports team. The Madison Square Garden Company will be adding Counter Logic Gaming to its already impressive portfolio of professional sports teams including the New York Knicks (NBA), New York Rangers (NHL), and New York Liberty (WNBA). A price for the transaction has not been disclosed, but given that the Madison Square Garden Company is publicly traded, additional details may be revealed in upcoming quarterly earnings reports. CLG's George Georgallidis will remain with the team and "continue to run the day-to-day business of esports" for the team's new owner.
CLG was founded back in 2010 as a League of Legends team that quickly grew in popularity and eventually expanded into other games. eSports has seen a lot of interest from big name traditional sports lately. Late last year the 76ers purchased Dignitas and Apex. Another recent transaction was the purchase of Team Liquid by a group of investors. I suspect money will continue to flow into eSports, especially with game operators like Riot Games and Activision Blizzard starting to better organize their leagues.
Despite no disclosure of price, my guess is that CLG was bought for over $50M. I'll update this article and post a new one if Madison Square Garden discloses a price in the future.
