Rob Lee, CEO and Co-founder of Pittsburgh Knights has transitioned from his current role in favour of becoming the organisation’s Chief Gaming Officer.
Absorbing the responsibilities of CEO is James O’Connor, who co-founded the North American organisation alongside Lee in 2017.
In his new role, Lee will fulfill management obligations that surround players, team management, recruitment, and developer relations. Lee commented on the recent move saying: “As the company grows and expands, I believe this is the correct time to refocus my efforts back into competitive gaming.”
According to a release, Lee has admittedly always been driven by the player and influencer aspects of esports – routinely accompanying his players at events. The former-CEO’s background includes experience as a gaming content creator, manager, and show host, which will likely be leveraged in his new role.
Under O’Connor and Lee, Pittsburgh Knights has found partnerships with Wiz Khalifa, HyperX, SmileDirectClub, as well as investment from local sport franchise, Pittsburgh Steelers. Just last month, the organisation had partnered with Mexico City-based media and entertainment fund Esports MX LATAM in an effort to extend the organisation’s global reach and take an early position in Latin American esports.
As it stands, Pittsburgh Knights currently fields 28 players across eight competitive titles and has teased that it is “preparing to announce exciting expansion news in the coming weeks.”
Esports Insider says: Though there were little insights as to why Lee or the Knights have decided to oust him of his duties as CEO in favour of his new role as CGO, it may prove of benefit in sight of Lee’s content creation and player-focused passion.