NBA jams into esports: Warriors’ Guber, Wizards’ Leonsis, and Magic Johnson buy Team Liquid

Basketball? Baseball? How 20th century. Today’s sports mogul is looking toward digital competition.

Team Liquid has announced that it has sold the controlling interest of its esports organization to an ownership group led by Peter Guber and Ted Leonsis. Guber is the co-owner of the Golden State Warriors of the NBA, the Los Angeles Dodgers of MLB, and Los Angeles Football Club soccer team. Leonsis runs Monumental Sports & Entertainment, which owns the Washington Capitals NHL team, the Washington Wizards basketball team, the Washington Mystics women’s basketball team, and the Washington Valor arena football team. Now, they’re investing in an esports industry worth $493 million and growing. Intelligence firm Newzoo projects that esports will drive $1.1 billion in revenues by 2019, which makes the market ripe for investing.