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LOS ANGELES -- As roughly 21,000 fans gathered at Staples Center in Los Angeles for the League of Legends World Championship, two of the countrys most well-known media influencers and businessmen, Peter Guber and Bruce Stein, sat in the Los Angeles Lakers suite in the arena.Guber and Stein are former executives at Sony Entertainment, and Guber is a co-owner of the Golden State Warriors, Los Angeles Dodgers and Los Angeles FC. Their time at the League of Legends World Championship affirmed what they believed to be true when their ownership group purchased one of the most popular esports teams in the United States, Team Liquid, several months ago.Guber says there were two reasons his new esports ownership group, aXiomatic, invested in the bourgeoning esports industry.One, Im attracted by the sport itself, which is a digital play, millennial play, its an over-the-top play in a sense, Guber told ESPN on Saturday night. Its an engagement that can be at home. You get the chance to get very close to the players, which is not as easy in other sports. You can participate in the sport easily; some of the games are very complicated -- like, wow -- but you can participate in it. You can follow the sport in a way thats unique and unique to that audience.According to research company Newzoo, esports has over 148 million fans, with an additional 144 million occasional viewers. Furthermore, within the United States, of the 20 million people who are esports fans, six million do not watch other traditional sports. Gubers second reason for investing comes from these demographics and similar numbers that he believes makes this investment worthwhile.I saw the psychographics and demographics of the audience, and Bruce and I talked about that; the idea that it isnt a fad, the median age keeps getting older, older and older as it goes through it and the bottom is also growing too, Guber said. So you get both things growing -- the tail and the head grows. Its a tsunami, it has that effect. Its an influencer, too -- it influences product, it influences sponsors, it influences behavior. It has all the components that makes it a viral activity.Talk of Gubers investment in the space began in early 2016 as he and his associates discussed a potential purchase of Team Liquid. The deal was finalized in late September, a day after the Philadelphia 76ers announced they had purchased Team Dignitas and Apex Gaming.The seeds of both deals, and perhaps other NBA interest in esports, were planted after a late-2015 NBA Board of Governors meeting, which featured a presentation on the growth of esports. Guber, for his part, says esports was already on his radar before that presentation.Really, it just drew out of my experience of being around Sony and running Sony and part of my experience of way back, he said, being an amateur radio operator and building my own rigs. [It] came out of my experience of recognizing that Im in the audience business. When you own the Dick Clark company with all of the attractions, when you own sports teams, big sports teams, and sports media companies, youre in the entertainment business.Youre engaging audiences. Thats what your job is, to engage audiences, and when you see an audience that is engaged as this, its magnetic, its exciting and you want to try and be a part of it.While Guber did not say exactly why his deal with Liquid took the better part of a year to complete, he did say that he and his associates felt it was best to take it slow before moving into the esports officially.Bruce and I have a view: You can put all the ingredients together and if you take it out of the oven too soon, its chocolate pudding, he said. If you leave it in the oven enough, you get a soufflé. Were in the soufflé business.Out of multiple options possible, Guber and Stein both say Liquid was the obvious option for a number of reasons: brand authenticity, popularity and the willingness of the organization to think outside the box with the deal to be purchased.The [Team Liquid] brand was incredibly strong with gamers who view authenticity as valuable, Stein said. Its a very valuable and authentic brand.Two, management: [Liquid co-CEOs] Steve [Arhancet] and Victor [Goossens] were really important to this. When you have short-term player contracts as a sport, it has in almost every game, you have to have a very responsive group that can deal with the changes. Steve and Victor were the two people who stuck out to us as partners that we could be invested with both in time, energy and resources over the long haul.Guber and Steins group has chosen to retain Arhancet, formerly of the Curse Gaming esports team which merged with Team Liquid in late 2014, and ?Goossens, the original founder of the Team Liquid StarCraft clan in 2000. The 76ers instead moved the Team Dignitas and Apex Gaming founding members, Michael ODEE ODell and Michael Slan, to operations manager positions.When asked why aXiomatic decided to keep Goossens and Arhancet in their current positions, Guber laughed.Seventy-sixers, Warriors, 76ers, Warriors, Guber joked, in reference to Golden States rising success in recent seasons. You do the math.Steve and Victor are progamers at heart, Stein said. If we lost a drop of the authenticity, there would be brand diminishment. Our intention is to keep every bit of the authenticity and add best practices from other areas. I think we want to take what Steve and Victor have done, acknowledge the dynamic that has changed in the business [money and other management], and add an ownership group from NextVR, Dick Clark Enterprises, every sort of imaginable traditional business and bring those practices to the sport. Thats what we add.As far as team management, players and constructing it, were advisers and partners of Steve and Victor, but thats what we think of it, and were following their lead in that regard.Joining Stein and Guber in their endeavor is Ted Leonsis, former AOL CEO and current owner of the Washington Wizards, Washington Capitals?and the Verizon Center; and Hall of Fame point guard Earvin Magic Johnson.[Ted is] a leader in digital technologies and software, he owns the Washington Capitals and the Wizards and a whole bunch of other sports teams, too. Hes just giant and over the top, Guber said. Hes an unbelievable leader with resources, hes a major participant and player, a full owner and partner in this, and his leadership, strengths and talent is going to be fundamental to us being successful.Moving forward, Guber says aXiomatic isnt just interested in owning an esports team. Guber compares his ambitions to that of what he has done with the Warriors since the purchase by him and majority owner Joe Lacob in 2010. Since the purchase, the team won a NBA championship in 2015 and is planning to open a new stadium in San Francisco by the 2018-19 season.I would say that [aXiomatic] should become a platform for the elements that are center and surround [esports], whether its engagement of venues, merchandise, peripherals or products that support the teams, Guber said. This a multifaceted enterprise, this sport is a multifaceted enterprise.If youre in baseball, youre in -- bam -- youre in venue management, youre in hospitality, youre in fan management, memorabilia, youre in a lot of other elements that depend on the success of the sport and the success of your team. We expect to grow [our new] business horizontally as well as vertically. Yeezy Boost 700 Cheap . Olli Jokinen, Mark Scheifele, and Bryan Little each had a goal and an assist as Winnipeg won 5-2, handing Calgary its record-setting seventh consecutive loss on home ice. Adidas Ultra Boost Clearance Sale . Their experience showed Tuesday as the No. 10 Badgers blunted a Saint Louis surge to win 63-57 and advance to face West Virginia in Wednesdays finals of the Cancun Challenge. http://www.ultraboostclearance.com/yeezy-boost-shoes-wholesale.html . - The Washington Redskins have cut defensive lineman Adam Carriker and punter Sav Rocca. Cheap Authentic Ultra Boost . "I wrote 36 on my sheet at the beginning of the game," the Cincinnati coach said, referring the yard line the ball would need to be snapped from. Ultra Boost Womens Sale . Halifax beat the Saint John Sea Dogs 7-5 on the strength of two goals apiece from Nikolaj Ehlers, Matt Murphy and Brent Andrews. Jonathan Drouin also scored and had three assists while Zachary Fucale made 17 saves for the Mooseheads (16-8-0), who led 6-1 after two periods. Manly pair Jamie Buhrer and Jake Trbojevic have been backed by teammates to usher in a new era as captains of the club next season.A fresh start awaits at Brookvale after injured skipper Jamie Lyon conceded his NRL career is over, while fellow veterans Brett Stewart and Steve Matai face uncertain futures.But star halfback Daly Cherry-Evans insists Sea Eagles are in good hands, endorsing both Buhrer and Trbojevic to succeed Lyon together in 2017 and beyond.Id be a big advocate for them to be our co-captains next year, Cherry-Evans said.I definitely feel a sense of security knowing if Jamie Lyon is not running me out, that Ive got two people that are very well respected amongst this playing group to lead us out.A final decision on who takes over Lyons role wont be made until the new year, however coach Trent Barrett is wary of placing too much burden on the 22-year-old Trbojevic.The local junior has yet to reach the 50-game milestone.He is still only young and I wont be throwing him to the wolves either. Theres still some really good older heads in the club, Barrett said.I dont have a preferred model (but) I think the co-captain model does work well when youve got a young bloke, like we have this year with Jamie and Jake.ddddddddddddBuhrer, 26, said he is proud to have co-led the team in Lyons absence this year as it had been a childhood dream to skipper his favourite club.I suppose I only came on due to Steve Matai and (Stewart) missing a lot of time this year, he said.But its something that Im extremely proud of, something Ive enjoyed to do. And if I get the chance the next two weeks, Ill look to make the most of it.Trbojevic was initially nervous when he was handed a leadership role mid-season but paid tribute to Lyon for helping him adjust to his new duties.The hard-working forward, together with brother and fullback Tom, is regarded as a cornerstone of the team over the coming years.When I was first a bit nervous, he said, `It makes you a better player, being captain, Trbojevic said.I thought it was going to be pretty hard, but the first few games I quite enjoyed it. It was a cool experience.Weve got heaps of leaders in the team. It made it a bit easier because theyd help you out. ' ' '