The eSports organization, one of the most popular in the country, has a contractual option to buy 100% of Simplicity Brasil. The values of the deal were not disclosed.
As Los Grandes advisor, Rodrigo Terron told ge in an exclusive interview that the negotiation with Simplicity ESports began in mid-March, a month after the Chandy Blog revealed that the U.S. company, which ran the eSports division of the Flamengo since 2020, was contacting other eSports organizations to offer a partnership or the sale of the vacancy in CBLOL.
Aware of this movement, Los Grandes sought representatives of Simplicity, which owns the franchise at CBLOL. There were virtual and face-to-face meetings in Miami, United States, to complete the deal, which was closed last week.
“We are looking at how to position the organization in the elite of the main competitive scenarios. CBLOL was there, we just didn't know if it was for this year or next year. We prioritized CS [Counter-Strike], went into Valorant, invested in Wild Rift, and when we saw an opportunity to accelerate that, we went after CBLOL,” Terron explained to ge.
The entry into CBLOL is part of Los Grandes' expansion plan, which, as ge showed in a report in February, started to focus more on the competitive, to the detriment of content production and exclusive dedication to Free Fire in eSports.
According to Terron, Los Grandes could not, as of now, buy the entire Simplicity Brasil due to an impediment in the CBLOL regulation. Therefore, there was the initial option to acquire 20% of the company.
Despite the minority percentage, the contract signed with Simplicity foresees that Los Grandes will manage the team as of this 2nd Split, together with the U.S. firm, although the organization cannot totally change the name, logo and uniform, nor have any interference over the definition of players hired for the sequel to the 2022 season. With the agreement, Simplicity and Los Grandes became partners at this first moment.
“Being side by side with Los Grandes means we can innovate on multiple fronts, as well as bring even greater expertise within the eSports landscape,” said Simplicity Esports CEO Jed Kaplan in a statement.
The team will no longer be ‘Flamengo Los Grandes’ to become just ‘Los Grandes’ starting next year, when the organization founded by influencer Rodrigo "El Gato" will also be able to exercise the option to buy up to 100% of Simplicity Brasil, as Terron told ge. “We bought 20% of Simplicity, with the objective of buying 100% by the end of next year,” said the director of Los Grandes.
The Rio de Janeiro’s team brand licensing agreement with Simplicity is valid until June 2023, but the U.S. company has already informed the club that it will no longer operate LoL, making itself available to continue managing the virtual football division until the end of the agreement.
“This split will not be 100% managed by Los Grandes, but it is a preparation for us, to understand the scenario, to come with a lot of strength for the 1st Split next year. As there are two teams [Flamengo and Los Grandes] with very large supporters, it can be very good to start a relationship for us to really welcome this Flamengo supporter, show what Los Grandes is, give a new face and, once the Let's do that, enter next year with a lot of security,” explained Terron.
Simplicity management
Flamengo joined eSports in October 2017, initially with management linked to the Club's Marketing Department, with an outsourced company, Cursor Esports (which later changed its name to Go4It) doing the operation. During this period, the Rio de Janeiro’s team rose from the 2nd division of the Brazilian League of Legends to the CBLOL, the elite tournament, reached three finals and won the national title in the last of them.
As of 2020, Flamengo's management changed its role in eSports and licensed the use of the brand in eSports to the North American company Simplicity Esports, which became responsible for all types of electronic games, without a direct role from Flamengo. Since then, the team has not achieved the sporting success of yore, although it has obtained a new runner-up in the 1st Split of CBLOL 2020, and has been involved in a succession of controversies.
Chandy's Blog revealed, in February, that Simplicity was looking for large eSports organizations in Brazil to talk about the possibility of selling the vacancy on CBLOL or partnering. In this case, Flamengo would no longer be represented in the main LoL championship in Brazil, because the vacancy in the tournament franchise belongs to Simplicity, and not to Flamengo. After being accepted in the selection process for the franchise, using the name Flamengo, Simplicity paid R$ 4 million (US$ 830k) to participate in the competition.
Last month, members of an organized fan group from Flamengo Esports demonstrated in front of the team's headquarters, in Gávea, Rio de Janeiro, asking for Simplicity to leave the administration of the electronic sports division and demanding that the club take over the operation in the games.
Source: G1
