Guild Esports (Guild), headquartered in London and co-owned by David Beckham has launched recently and they are into developing a talent pipeline in the UK, based on the traditional academy model. Through venture, the company is looking at becoming a bridge between sports and esports.
Beckham spoke on his involvement in Guild Esports in a release: “Throughout my career I’ve been lucky enough to work with players at the top of their game, and I’ve seen first-hand the passion and dedication it takes to play at that level. I know that determination lives in our esports athletes today and at Guild we have a vision to set a new standard, supporting these players into the future. We are committed to nurturing and encouraging youth talent through our academy systems and I am looking forward to helping our Guild Esports team grow.”
Guild is backed by a management team of esports veterans with experience as professional players, coaches and in the esports media. Guild Executive Chairman, Carleton Curtis, is an industry heavyweight and architect of the Overwatch League and Call Of Duty Leagues. Prior to joining Guild, he held senior esports roles at Activision Blizzard and Red Bull.Beckham, via DB Ventures, and Blue Star Capital have contributed towards a funding round by Guild Esports that’s targeting more than $31 million, with the latter investing $596,400 at 6p per share to maintain its 11.7 percent stake.
Guild Esports executive chairman Carleton Curtis, commented: “The meteoric rise of esports shows no signs of slowing down and this is the perfect moment for Guild Esports to enter this exciting market. We have built an experienced management team and I am proud to have David Beckham as co-owner in this venture as his professionalism and deep experience of developing high-functioning sports teams aligns with our core strategy of building the best in class esports teams. At Guild Esports, David will be instrumental in helping shape the coaching programme implemented at our academies and we welcome his valuable mentoring as well as the inspiration he gives the younger generation of athletes. Esports is already one of the most popular spectator sports on Earth and will continue to grow globally as excitement, accessibility and knowledge of the sector soars. Guild looks forward to playing a big role in the future of this growing community.”
