On November 2nd, Immortals announced it would be relocating its organizational headquarters to the Great Lakes Region (GLR). This comes as part of a strategic repositioning and expansion effort.
The company intends on utilizing a “hub and spoke” operation model. An organizational “hub” will be established in Detroit while several other “spokes” will be established in GLR cities and college towns sometime early next year.
“As a Michigander and a University of Michigan alumnus, I know personally how much value gaming, through Immortals, can deliver to Great Lakes communities,” said the company’s recently promoted CEO, Jordan Sherman. “We’ve observed the strides the GLR has made in making itself a destination of choice for growing companies, technological innovation, entrepreneurs, and emerging industries. All of these characteristics make the GLR an ideal market for competitive gaming, and Immortals aims to bring that opportunity to life.”
Immortals also unveiled several events as part of this relocation announcement. This included the Immortals x Wild Rift “Immortals Invasion” Takeover in Ann Arbor, a University of Michigan Esports LAN event, student group partnerships, and a series of gaming business summits.
The Profit‘s Take:
Jordan Sherman actually discussed this when he was a guest on The Business of Esports Podcast. Most esports orgs are basically headquartered in LA, New York, Texas, etc. They’re pretty clustered in major cities. This is a TOTALLY different type of strategic move here. They’re saying we want to be the ONLY esports org in the region. They’re going to the Great Lakes Region SPECIFICALLY because it is underrepresented. Big picture, I like contrarian strategies in general. This is either going to be spectacularly right or spectacularly wrong. I never understood why EVERY esports org had to be in LA or New York. It never made sense to me because you’re in an incredibly expensive and oversaturated market. Everything city-based, while it sounds like it should work, has not been proven effective in the world of esports. Andbox failed massively and did nothing in New York. I would also argue that Activision-Blizzard’s city-based franchises have failed too. Even G2 said it would come and own New York, but that never happened. Nobody in esports has proven that the hyperlocal business model can work. However, I love this move from a fight for talent perspective. In LA, you have to compete with dozens of other esports orgs for employees and talent. But you can be the cool team in the Great Lakes region and dominate that talent pool out there. I like this idea from a business and people perspective. I just hope they can corner and effectively monetize the local fanbase there. If anybody can do this, Immortals can.
(All information was provided by Investing News)
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