Snoop Dogg just added esports to his resume.
The hip hop legend has created his own league called the “Gangsta Gaming League,” for Madden NFL 2019 in partnership with Merry Jane, a cannabis-focused news platform.
Snoop and eight of his closest gaming friends participated in a Madden tournament that was streamed on Twitch, Mixer, YouTube and Facebook for a $10,000 jackpot.
This latest move by the rapper could prove beneficial for him in the long run.
According to a report by the Entertainment Software Association and NDP Group, the video gaming industry reached a record $43.4 billion in revenue in 2018, up 18 percent from 2017. For esports alone, the market is set to hit $1.79 billion by 2022, according to estimates from Newzoo.
Football has had a special place in Snoop’s heart for quite some time. He served as a youth football league coach for more than a decade and now he’s taking his talents online.
Snoop Dogg, along with other rappers like T.I. and Soulja boy are seeing gaming as a lucrative business. T.I. has invested in Culture Genesis, an online trivia game — while Soulja put his money into his own gaming console. Last year, Drake also started investing in esports and co-founded esports brand 100 Thieves.
Snoop Dogg recently became an investor in Klarna, a Swedish online payment platform that is valued at more than $2.5 billion.
