Kevin Durant Invests in New York Esports Franchise Andbox
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Kevin Durant’s Thirty Five Ventures has invested in Andbox, the New York-based esports organization that has teams in the Overwatch League and Call of Duty League. Both Durant and his business partner, Rich Kleiman, will help create new entertainment content and design merchandise for Andbox.
Durant, who played in an NBA 2K tournament hosted last spring on ESPN, will compete in gaming events alongside pro Andbox gamers. Andbox was founded in 2019 by Sterling VC, an investment fund operated by the Wilpon family, who owned the New York Mets before selling the club to Steve Cohen.
“The passion that New York sports fans have has really hit home with me,” said Durant, who is now with the Brooklyn Nets. “Andbox is bringing that same energy to esports here, and that’s something Thirty Five Ventures is very excited to be a part of.”
Existing investors in Andbox include actor Michael B. Jordan, former Turner president David Levy, and Dapper Laps CEO Roham Gharegozlou.
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Andbox’s Overwatch team hosted matches with roughly 1,600 fans at Hammerstein Ballroom in Manhattan last March before the pandemic shifted competition to remote gameplay. The organization plans to resume live events in New York and eventually open gaming centers for fans in the NYC area.
Travis Burnett
A pioneer in the flag football community, Travis helped co-found the Flag Football World Championship Tour, FlagSpin and USA Flag. Featuring 15+ years of content creation for the sport of flag football, creating and managing the largest flag football tournaments on the planet, coaching experience at the youth and adult level as well as an active player with National and World Championship level experience.
