Dignitas has raised a $30 million Series A funding round and completed a merger with Clutch Gaming. The two esports organizations will now operate under a newly formed parent company called New Meta Entertainment.
The investment round was led by Ferrtita Entertainment and Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment, the two majority shareholders in Dignitas. HSBE originally bought Dignitas in 2016. Tilman Fertitta had acquired Clutch Gaming by buying the NBA’s Rockets in October 2017. HBSE also owns the NBA’s 76ers and NHL’s Devils. New investors that contributed to the $30-million raise include Susquehanna Private Equity Investments, hospitality management company Delaware North, and Steven Rifkind, the co-founder of hip-hop record label Loud Records.
Delaware North owns TD Garden in Boston, the home arena of the NBA’s Celtics and NHL’s Bruins, and several retail casinos throughout the U.S. It operates dining services at more than 50 venues across the NFL, MLB, the NHL, the NBA and Major League Soccer. Delaware North CEO Jeremy Jacobs also owns the Bruins.
“NME will be an industry innovator, and will operate at the intersection of esports, media, technology and entertainment,” said Michael Prindiville, the CEO of New Meta Entertainment. “Our shareholders embrace the vast potential of esports, gaming and digital entertainment, and we will be leveraging their resources, relationships and brand insights to grow the NME and Dignitas brands.”
Prindiville previously served as CEO of Dignitas, and led Dignitas’s merger with Clutch Gaming this past June. That $20 million deal gave HBSE majority ownership of Clutch Gaming’s League of Legends franchise.
“NME’s shareholders provide a strong competitive advantage given their success in operating professional sports teams and entertainment assets,” Prindiville said.
New Meta Entertainment will span esports teams, content and marketing, and will also have an investment arm focused on growing companies in the digital sports and entertainment space. NME’s esports teams will compete under the Dignitas brand spanning popular gaming titles such as League of Legends, Counter-Strike, Super Smash Bros, Rocket League and Clash Royale. The content and marketing side will collaborate with influencers across gaming, sports, music and pop culture.
In June, Dignitas opened a 3,000-square-foot content production studio adjacent to the HBSE-owned Prudential Center in Newark, N.J. NME plans to open a similar facility in Los Angeles in 2020. It will also leverage “infrastructure in Boston, Philadelphia, Houston, Europe and China to deliver on global opportunities,” according to the new company’s press release.
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