FAZE CLAN RE-ENTERS THE ORGANIZATION

NEW YORK CITY (June 14, 2017) – Today, WESA announced that OpTic Gaming has joined as a full Member. Additionally, WESA announced that one of its founding teams, FaZe Clan, is remaining a full Member of the organization. The involvement of two such prestigious teams as Members of WESA, while participating and supporting the initiatives that WESA continually works to implement, furthers the organization’s positive effect on the esports industry.

“We are honored that OpTic Gaming, one of the most popular esports teams in the world with a massive social following and fan base, has elected to join WESA. We are also pleased that FaZe Clan will remain as a Member of our organization,” said Ken Hershman, Executive Chairman and Commissioner, WESA. “The recent team additions to WESA demonstrate our continued commitment to bringing the world’s best esports organizations together in order to positively impact professional esports. Having the expertise and professionalism of OpTic Gaming and FaZe Clan as part of WESA will greatly aid us in fulfilling that mission.”

Since its founding, WESA has introduced a number of industry-leading initiatives designed to further professionalize the esports industry, including regulations around multi-team ownership, player transfers, standard terms and conditions for player contracts and the first esports specific alternative dispute resolution system, ACES.

OpTic Gaming is an American esports organization headquartered in Illinois, and currently fields teams competing in Call of Duty, Halo, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO) and Gears of War. The company is owned and led by Hector “H3CZ” Rodriguez.

“We share the same vision as WESA and its membership to professionalize the esports industry,” said Hector Rodriguez, Owner, OpTic Gaming. “We look forward to working with the organization and our fellow Members on advancing the progress that they have already made.”

OpTic Gaming joins 10 of the world’s most popular esports teams (EnVyUS, FaZe Clan, Fnatic, G2 Esports, mousesports, Natus Vincere, Ninjas in Pyjamas, Renegades, SK Gaming and Virtus.pro), as well as ESL, as a Member of WESA. Each of these organizations share a collective vision to further professionalize the sport by introducing elements of player representation, standardized regulations and revenue sharing for teams.

“We’re impressed with WESA’s growth and impact on the industry over the last year. Expanding membership with more North American teams, introducing key regulations and the commitment of member organizations to abide by the changes, and a new Commissioner with a background in the traditional media space really solidified our interest in remaining a part of WESA, “ said Erik Anderson, Manager, FaZe Clan. “FaZe Clan is committed to being an active member of WESA moving forward and growing the esports industry.”

FaZe Clan is an American media and esports company based in Southern California, and currently fields teams competing in Overwatch, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO) and Call of Duty. With a combined social following of over 100 million across Twitter, YouTube and Instagram the company is currently scaling its media and esports operations. FaZe Clan is currently ranked number 2 in the world for CS:GO.