Turtle Entertainment has appointed Thomas Schmidt to ESL‘s board of directors as a non-executive member.
Schmidt will provide “expert advice on creating and delivering best-in-class coverage and sponsorship solutions”.
Ralf Reichert, Founder and Co-CEO of ESL discussed the hire in a statement: “ESL develops esports across the world, which means we create more opportunities for participation and progress for players than any other sport. At the same time we connect brands to an increasingly growing audience. As a veteran and key expert, Thomas can boost ESL in further connecting existing and new esports audiences with great content offerings across esports leagues, tournaments, platforms and channels. We are very happy to have Thomas on our exciting journey.”
Schmidt worked on the “commercial exploitation of global media rights” for the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League. He was the Managing Director of TV/Media Rights at TEAM Marketing – a Switzerland-based agency that sold the right to UEFA’s club competitions – for 16 years. Not only that, he has a pre-existing relationship with ESL’s parent company MTG as a media partner.
Jørgen Madsen Lindemann, President and CEO of MTG also commented: “For 16 years, Thomas continuously raised the standard of the distribution and marketing of the UEFA Champions League, and as our long-standing media partner shared our vision of delivering high-quality content and building a dedicated international following. Thomas will complement MTG’s broad set of competencies necessary to drive further development of the esports industry while creating long-term value.”
Just earlier this month, MTG increased its investment in Turtle Entertainment and its ESL brand. The conglomerate reportedly paid $17 million (£13 million) to take its shares from 74% up to 82.48%.
Esports Insider says: Thomas Schmidt is evidently a veteran in his field and has done an incredible alongside the staff at TEAM Marketing. This appears to be a big grab by Turtle Entertainment, it’ll certainly be interesting to see what happens with the rights to ESL’s properties in the future.