News

Simon Backs Allied Esports

By:

Black Ridge Acquisition Corp. entered into a letter agreement for Simon Equity Development to become a shareholder of Allied Esports through an equity investment in Black Ridge Acquisition Corp.

“We’re extremely pleased to collaborate with Black Ridge and Allied Esports, leading innovators in esports and gaming, to bring cutting-edge venues to our iconic properties around the country. This is exactly the type of innovative activation that excites our customers and drives traffic for our centers at Simon. Simon’s successful locations are ideally suited to provide these new and exciting community spaces, complementing our other dynamic offerings,” said Mark Silvestri, Simon’s Chief Operating Officer for Development.

Highlights from the letter agreement include:

  • Simon acquiring $5 million in shares of Black Ridge Acquisition Corp.;
  • Simon and Allied Esports creating dedicated esports venues and experiences at select Simon locations throughout the United States; and
  • Simon and Allied Esports launching a new competition tour called The Simon Cup.

“The agreement with Simon is a landmark opportunity to bring Allied Esports’ vision for the future of competitive gaming to Simon’s world class property network,” said Lyle Berman, Director of Black Ridge. “As we work to close the transaction combining our NASDAQ-listed Black Ridge Acquisition Corp. with Allied Esports and WPT, the significant investment by Simon would be a testament to our unrivaled plans and to the opportunity Simon sees to participate in this growing industry.”

Simon and Allied Esports will also collaborate to create a new product offering focused on delivering esports experiences through integrated gaming venues and production facilities in select Simon destinations around the country. The in-mall arenas will be designed for tournament play and daily use with the capability to be expanded into common areas for larger esports activations and live events. In addition, Allied Esports and Simon will launch The Simon Cup, a co-branded esports competition and gaming tournament festival combining online and in-person elements that includes regional tournament events at select Simon centers in the New York and Los Angeles markets, culminating in a Grand Final at the iconic HyperX Esports Arena Las Vegas.

“Simon’s commitment and investment in our growing esports ecosystem will immediately strengthen our foundation for creating live experiences and compelling content for gamers and fans around the world,” said Frank Ng, co-CEO of Ourgame, owner of Allied Esports. “We are thrilled for the opportunity to work closely with the forward-thinking team at Simon to design specialized mall-based esports concepts that we hope will attract new audiences and partners through their network and enhance our global presence.”

Related Content