Kroenke Sports & Entertainment is looking to sell its teams in the Overwatch League and the Call of Duty League, according to reports from The Esports Advocate and the Sports Business Journal.
LA Guerrillas and LA Gladiators will reportedly remain operational until either a buyer is found for the teams or the franchise slots, or until the end of the season in each league.
The Sports Business Journal added that an alternative to an outright sale would be a partnership deal that “would give operational control of the teams to another entity.”
If a solution cannot be found by the end of the season, the teams could be shut down, the reports added.
The reports come just hours after it was revealed that Kroenke Sports & Entertainment had slashed jobs across multiple departments in its esports arm, The Guard. Several employees took to Twitter to talk about the layoffs, which allegedly gutted the company’s content, social, talent and creative teams.
According to The Esports Advocate, many executive positions are also being cut as part of this round of layoffs.
Neither report made any mention of The Guard’s Valorant and Apex Legends teams, whose future remains unclear. The Valorant team is currently competing in NA Challengers, while the Apex Legends roster is slated to participate in the NA division of ALGS Split 2 Pro League, next month.
Kroenke Sports & Entertainment spent $20 million in August 2017 to enter the Overwatch League with the LA Gladiators, Los Angeles’ second franchise in this league. In 2019, it spent $25 million to participate in the Call of Duty League with LA Guerrillas.
In November 2021, Kroenke Sports & Entertainment rebranded its esports operations, putting both franchise teams and a Valorant roster under The Guard’s umbrella. The organization fielded a Halo roster for a brief period in late 2021 and expanded into Apex Legends in October 2022.
LA Guerrillas head coach Mark ‘MarkyB’ Bryceland seemingly confirmed the reports. “I cannot put into words how devasted I am,” he wrote on Twitter. “I moved to LAG because of the organization, the people behind the scenes. That’s all gone now.”
“All I know for a fact is that the squad is going to put everything into the rest of this season.”
According to the Sports Business Journal, Kroenke Sports & Entertainment’s decision to leave esports “could signal more exits to come among other franchise owners.”
Kroenke Sports & Entertainment owns major sports teams including the LA Rams, Denver Nuggets, and Arsenal Football Club.
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