Founded in 2017, Infinite Esports & Entertainment quickly became a significant force in the esports industry, acquiring established organization OpTic Gaming while also securing franchise spots in the Overwatch League (Houston Outlaws ) and League of Legends Championship Series (LCS). However, that speedy ascent was marked by a notable correction late last year.

In October, the holding company laid off 19 employees, including founder, co-owner, and then-president Chris Chaney. New president Ryan Musselman said at the time that the company “grew too fast,” and that it would refocus on “foundational brands” like OpTic Gaming and the franchised league spots.

Infinite’s Allegiance organization closed down at the end of 2018, and the company sold its Sector Six apparel brand to We Are Nations this January. Now, there may be further change on the horizon: majority owner Texas Esports is reportedly looking to sell its stake in Infinite Esports & Entertainment, according to an ESPN report from January.

Chaney is no longer involved in day-to-day operations at the company, but remains a co-owner. He spoke with The Esports Observer about Infinite’s quick rise, last year’s layoffs, and why he believes that a sale of the company would be a “tentpole moment” for esports.

Credit: OpTic Gaming

Entry Into Esports

Chaney originally came into the industry as an esports neophyte, but he had built up experience as an investor and advisor for various non-traditional sports and entertainment verticals, including action sports, rugby, mixed martial arts, and even obstacle-course racing. When he caught wind of the esports industry’s rapid growth, he saw an opportunity to apply his expertise to a new kind of challenge.

“When I came across esports in early 2016, it was simply seeing the headlines—just simply put, the headlines about esports and growth,” he said. “I didn’t know anything about esports, but it piqued my interest.”

After networking and picking the brains of many industry professionals, Chaney wanted to start a company that would be a hybrid incubator and investment platform, to build and accelerate the growth of esports startups. He planned to include an esports team in that, but it would only be part of a much broader focus on building up infrastructure companies and investing across the space. When he got connected to OpTic Gaming, Chaney felt that it was the ideal team to anchor his esports ambitions.

“I was immediately captivated by the size and the passion of the OpTic audience, and how much cultural relevance OpTic had within the space,” he said. “OpTic was very high on my radar. It took us a while and some detours to ultimately get a deal done, but I knew early on that OpTic could be that linchpin in this platform that we were building. I wanted us to be at the pinnacle of the space, and to me that meant having a leading organization like OpTic, having a franchise in the Overwatch League, and having a franchise in the LCS.”

Credit: Blizzard

All of that happened within roughly a three-month stretch between July and October 2017, as Infinite went through the application process for both leagues while still working to solidify a deal with OpTic Gaming. That required a lot of juggling and made for a very intense few months, said Chaney, but all three pieces ultimately fell into place.

“Until recently, I haven’t had a chance to reflect and think on what we were able to do in such a short period of time,” he said. “In hindsight, I’m not sure how we got it done—but we got it done.”

Rise and Fall

With those large deals completed, Infinite Esports & Entertainment quickly set to work on building out its infrastructure. The company established separate arms for events management and production, sponsorship sales, player and coach development, content production, player performance, and apparel and merchandising. From the start, however, these divisions were intended to eventually be spun off into companies that could serve the wider industry.

“We were founding and incubating companies that would initially serve our internal needs, functioning as quasi-departments, but then over time scale across the industry and build on the success that they had within Infinite,” said Chaney.

Credit: Blizzard

He pointed to traditional sports companies that have spun off in-house departments into companies that serve a wider array of clients, including the Fenway Sports Group’s Fenway Sports Management and the Minnesota Vikings’ True North Viking Creative agency.

“It was very ambitious, and we wanted to build an entrepreneurial culture that was really centered around collaboration and innovation—where we would enable passionate people to do meaningful work and contribute to a larger shared vision within the industry,” he continued. “Most people characterize Infinite as a holding company, and I suppose it was a holding company. But really, what we intended to do was build this hybrid startup studio and investment firm.”

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Chaney said that Infinite had to rapidly staff up to fill all of the myriad roles across the divisions, but that being a startup company—one built with the idea of spinning off even more startups over time—posed challenges for the team. “We made mistakes last year, which I would’ve expected running multiple startups at the same time,” he said. But as the layoffs and his own removal as president suggest, that wide-ranging approach may not have yielded results quickly enough to appease all of the company’s key decision-makers.

“Unfortunately, sometimes in business, between entrepreneur, investors, and board of directors and so forth, you don’t always agree on direction of the company,” he said. “I had a certain vision for our business and where I wanted to take it. It was going to take several years; not 12 months, not 24, and not 36. It was going to take several years for us to execute on this vision, but I passionately felt that we were building something that was meant to last over time.

Credit: lolesports/ Riot Games

“Sometimes things work out and you get that opportunity to build something over several years, and sometimes you don’t. But I certainly believe in the core principles that we established, and I feel that we’ve achieved a lot,” he added. “We fell short in certain areas, much of which I think was attributable to startup mistakes and learning, but we were deeply committed to building a platform that supports multiple verticals within the industry. That was everything. And I’m most excited about the people that we had and having had the opportunity to work on something really special like this.”

Infinite’s Next Moves

Chaney remains a co-owner of Infinite Esports & Entertainment separate from Texas Esports and serves on the company’s board of directors, but no longer has a day-to-day role within the organization. In the weeks before Infinite’s layoffs began, Chaney was asked to remain with the company in a C-level position, but declined the offer, explaining that he did not agree with the new direction of the company. He said that the overall loss of jobs was most disappointing to him, and that ultimately, the company has since shifted its vision away from what he was building towards.

“With the reorganization and the changes that have happened at Infinite, it’s a different direction. It’s a different strategy,” he said. “It’s hard for me to judge. What really makes me sad is the people that were affected. Companies are great; companies are companies. But companies don’t mean anything without people. Nothing, in my view.”

Infinite Esports & Entertainment could soon see some different people in the mix. According to ESPN, majority owner Texas Esports is reportedly preparing to sell its stake in the company. Sources told ESPN that the stake is valued at $150M USD, due in large part to the Overwatch League and LCS franchise slots.

Credit: lolesports/ Riot Games

Chaney said that if a sale does occur, that it “should be the largest transaction in the history of esports” in terms of dollar value. If so, he believes that such a deal will prove to investors that the assets of esports teams and companies truly do have significant value.

“If this deal happens, and I think it will, then it very well could be a tentpole moment with regards to team deals,” said Chaney. “It could signal that the underlying assets—and I know a lot of people have been asking questions: ‘Are these teams actually worth anything? What am I actually buying with these teams?’ If a deal of this magnitude gets done, then it indicates that there are buyers that believe that these teams have such significant value that they’re willing to spend nine figures to acquire assets like that. That, then, to me is actually a strong indication—if there are buyers out there—that these are real assets with real long-term value.”