Esports industry veteran Michael Sepso, who co-founded Major League Gaming and later joined Activision Blizzard as Senior VP of esports, has joined the board of directors at Call of Duty player Matt ‘Nadeshot‘ Haag, who has known Sepso for over eight years personally through MLG tournaments.
“I’ve known [Nadeshot] since he literally was a teenager and had just started out in esports as an MLG player,” Sepso said, “So it was a natural fit for both of us. I was really excited when he approached me about joining the board.”
Since leaving his role at MLG in August 2018, Sepso has continued his involvement in esports, also joining the ownership group of Overwatch League team, the New York Excelsior.
100 Thieves is yet to enter Overwatch, but currently fields a team in the franchised LCS (plus an academy roster), the Call of Duty World League and Fortnite.
Given Sepso’s ties with the Overwatch League (he was part of its creation), there is more potential for 100 Thieves expansion into the esport. Sepso is also chairman of advisory firm Electronic Sports Group, which he co-founded in November.
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100 Thieves has been growing at an impressive rate, both in esports and apparel, which Nadeshot has said are of equal importance to him as part of the brand.
Nadeshot said of Sepso’s arrival at 100 Thieves: “MLG helped launch my career when I won a gold medal at the first X Games. Since then, Mike’s been a mentor to me not only in esports, but in business. There isn’t a better person to help take our vision for the 100 Thieves organization to the next level.”
Sepso also said he wants to help 100 Thieves “make esports America’s new pastime” – ambitious goals indeed. The franchised model of esports leagues has been heavily supported by Sepso, and with Call of Duty moving to a franchised system in 2019, 100 Thieves will hold at least two franchise teams soon.
100 Thieves secured sponsors from Red Bull in November, and Totino’s in February, which comes off the back of Series A funding in late 2018, which saw Drake and Scooter Braun join as co-owners.
100 Thieves is also partnered by sponsors like Rocket Mortgage, Razer, StockX, with major funding from Cleveland Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert (who also founded StockX and Quicken Loans)