Amid recent headlines that saw esports powerhouse Denial eSports add not only a Rocket League team to its roster but also lock in deals with new co-owners in Hank Baskett and Stephen A. Crystal, the team is still looking to beef up investment to help grow the brand. Cynopsis Esports spoke with Ronny Ringnalda, CEO of Denial eSports, about the recent moves and what we can expect from the team moving forward.
Ringalda on launching Denial eSports: I was a pro player and realized about five or six years ago that there wasn’t much going in that direction for myself. So I stepped down and replaced myself on one of our games for one of our first teams. I then started marketing to sponsors, and that’s when things began to grow. We picked up sponsors and then added new teams. Last year, I started to realize how much capital was coming into the space and how many VC firms were starting to invest so I started looking in the investor route to find strategic partners because this is my baby and I don’t want to start partnering with someone that I’m going to hate for the rest of my life.
On adding Hank Baskett and Steven A Crystal: After many months of getting screwed over and finding many people that I would never want to work with, I ran into Steven and Hank, who are terrific, and got them involved. Over the next six months, we’ll be looking for one more strategic larger partner. Hank’s been in the space for about ten years now, and was the easier one for me because he is passionate about the space and very connected in the celebrity world so that opens up new opportunities for people we can work with. When it comes to Steven, he has been in the gambling side of the business, owning 15+ casinos and is an expert in raising and finding money. So we are now being strategic in where we want to go next.
On next steps: We want to do a partnership with a city to be able to have some sort of facility because that’s where I think esports is going. We have connections now in New York City, Tampa and obviously Las Vegas because of Steven, as well as LA.
On lessons learned: For me, it was learning to be upfront with people and not to stab people in the back because it goes around quick.
