CEO of Esports Entertainment explains B2C and divestment plans

Esports Entertainment has been in trouble since May 2022, when it admitted to having “doubts” about whether it could stay in business for another year. In November, its SportNation and RedZone brands ceased trading in the UK, while former CEO Grant Johnson exited the following month after rumors emerged about the company’s future.

Igelman, who was appointed in January this year, said he had conducted a corporate review and coordinated it with an action plan.

“Since joining the company about three months ago, I immediately conducted a comprehensive review of the entire organization based on where I thought the e-sports and e-sports gaming industries were headed, and then rolled that into a cohesive one Vision for the company integrated. “Igelman said.

He explained that Esports Entertainment will now focus on expanding its B2C offering, particularly through its Idefix platform. The company acquired Idefix as part of its $30 million acquisition of Lucky Dino in March 2021.

“As a business-to-consumer (B2C) igaming operator in international markets operating under our MGA license, we plan to refocus on esports betting through new betting content and offerings,” he said.

“At the same time, the company is implementing strategies to expand its B2C esports betting services through its Idefix platform, and we are in the final stages of integrating the Oddin.gg iframe solution into our esports betting platform.

“Ultimately, we plan to offer an esports-focused, Idefix-based B2B platform for sale and distribution to third parties.”

Divestment efforts

Igelman pointed to Esports Entertainment’s numerous divestment efforts, many of which have taken place this year. Igelman said these sales were made to “streamline” its operations.

“In January this year we completed the sale of our Spanish esports gaming license for approximately $1.2 million,” he said. “Immediately following this transaction, we completed the sale of the Bethard business in February for approximately $1.7 million in cash at closing and additional debt and liabilities to the Bethard business of approximately $7.5 million reduced.

“In March we initiated the liquidation of Argyll Entertainment, an online gaming company in the UK with recurring losses.”

Igelman also explained the company’s decision to reduce its workforce, which had fallen by more than 37% this year.

“We have also reduced headcount from 158 full-time employees to 99 full-time employees as of December 31, 2022, including planned reductions,” he said. “Although we incurred upfront costs associated with the restructuring, these initiatives are expected to reduce our operating costs by over $4 million on an annualized basis over time.”

looking ahead

Despite a rocky start to 2023, Igelman praised the company’s “achievements” during his time as CEO as “remarkable.”

“Esports entertainment has extremely valuable and differentiated assets that we believe will be critical to the future of this industry,” he said. “I firmly believe that our achievements in a short period of three months are truly remarkable.

“With the right leadership, direction and financial discipline, I am extremely confident that we can establish Esports Entertainment as a leader in this rapidly growing market while creating value for shareholders.”