Jay-Z’s Roc Nation has a hand in nearly every industry these days, and now it’s casting its net even wider with the future of esports.
Roc Nation Sports has partnered up with the Gaming Community Network (GCN) — which is also part of GameSquare Esports Inc. — to create global gaming solutions for star-studded athletes and expand their presence in esports, a press release reports.
The multi-year partnership intends to build on a collaboration that will develop “authentic bespoke athlete-centric strategies” for athletes — including esports tournaments, gaming content production, live streaming events as well as offer content syndication across the GCN Network, which hosts 85-plus gaming and esports-centric websites.
“Partnering with Roc Nation Sports continues our growth of building GameSquare into an esports powerhouse,” said GameSquare CEO Justin Kenna in a statement. “With our recent acquisitions of Complexity and Cut+Sew/Zoned and adding Paradigm Sports to our advisory board, we are well-positioned to guide Roc Nation Sports and its diverse talent into the gaming and esports space.”
Brodie Van Wagenen — COO and Head of Strategy / Business Development at Roc Nation Sports — also added that more athletes today are beginning to engage in the world of esports gaming and so it’s of the upmost importance that younger audiences, who reportedly have the most influence, are reached as a demographic that has the power to move the needle in this space.
“By pairing GCN’s vast network and capabilities with Roc Nation Sports’ diverse global footprint, we anticipate that our clients will be able to connect to a broader community while growing their personal brands and businesses through innovative and multi-facing gaming projects,” he says.
Through this new partnership, GCN says that it intends to create strategies for each athlete that matches their interests in esports and specific games. By using the vast marketing and social media reach of Roc Nation Sports alongside GCN’s deep ties to esports, the collaboration is projected to provide unique strategies for the Roc Nation Sports roster and attract new talent that recognizes the importance of getting involved with the growing esports demographic.
“To be able to partner with such a premier entertainment and sports organization in Roc Nation Sports is an amazing opportunity for GCN,” Chris Kindt — Chief Marketing Officer of GCN — said in a statement. “With this being our first formal collaboration with a talent agency, we can’t wait to get started working with Juan Perez and Brodie Van Wagenen. This partnership is expected to allow us to continue to bridge the gap between traditional media and gaming. We are excited to build esports content and tournaments with Roc Nation Sports.”
Roc Nation and Roc Nation Sports combined have upwards of two billion total followers across Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, as well as a stacked roster of athletic clients that includes people like LaMelo Ball, Skylar Diggins-Smith, Saquon Barkley, Immanuel Quickley and many more.
The full-service management and sports agency initially ventured into the esports world back in 2019 after signing Mosaad “Msdossary” Al-Dossary, the 2018 eSports Player of the Year following his FIFA eWorld Cup win. Now it’s confident that partnering with GCN will only benefit both firms and allow them to create a game-changing solution to help bridge the gap between traditional athletes and gaming.
