NBA legend Shaquille O’Neal invested $155 million dollars in NRG esports after witnessing 30,000 Kids involved in League of Legends

After witnessing the participation of 30,000 kids involved in the League of Legends season 3 World Championship, NBA legend Shaquille Neal decided to invest 155 million dollars in the esports team “NRG Esports”, owned by the Sacramento Kings.

Shaquille Neal has been involved with different sports, since his retirement from the game, and his investment in an esports team is huge.

The NRG esports team was founded in 2015 by Sacramento Kings co-founders Mastrov and Andy Miller.

Shaq was also asked why he invested in NRG Esports in different media outlets, to which he said that based on the insistence of his children, he opted to invest in Esports.

I was in California, I was spending time with the kids, and they said, “Dad, there’s an event at the Staples Center [League of Legends Season 3 World Championship]. We want you to take us.”

“Hey, you guys have an event going down.” They said, “Yeah, there’s this new thing called esports, blah blah blah. Come, because I’ve never heard of it.”

So then, when I get there, it feels like a basketball game. It’s 30,000 little kids screaming. And then, watching these two kids play on screen, I asked myself, like, what is this? And [my kids] said, “This is the future, Dad.” Esports. “

I looked into it. And then when I got the opportunity to invest in an esports team, I thought it was the right thing to do. Because you know, especially when it comes to technology, kids dictate what’s going to be and what’s not going to be.

He also added that esports is the fastest growing ecosystem and it will move to the next pedestal in years to come.

“I knew it then, I know it now: esports is still one of the fastest-growing industries and it just appeals to so many people,” O’Neal said.

“[With traditional sports] it’s all about engagement,” O’Neal said. It’s all about [the] audience, it’s all about fun, it’s all about excitement, it’s the same thing. So now there’s room for all the sports to be out at the same time. But esports, the kids are already doing this anyway. “

“I always get these companies that say, ‘Hey, we’ll give you $900,000 in crypto to send out a tweet.’ So I have to say, ‘OK, if you’re going to give me a million dollars worth of crypto, then why do you need me?’”

Seventy-two percent of all professional athletes, when they’re done playing, have nothing, “O’Neal said. “I don’t want to be part of that statistic. So now that I have this, I must cherish it because I want to start the creation of generational wealth for my family, “he added. 

Recently, esports have become the talk of the town after several traditional sports organizations have started investing in esports organizations. Several football teams, like Paris Saint-German and Barcelona, have already created esports teams that are competing in different international tournaments. 

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