When new CEO Mike Prindiville joined Team Dignitas in May, he suggested there were big changes ahead for the 15-year-old organization, which was acquired in 2016 by the Philadelphia 76ers and is now under the Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment (HBSE) umbrella. Nearly six months later, the organization announced the first of those changes in the form of a brand refresh.

First off, it’s just Dignitas now—the “Team” part is gone. Also out is the alien-like “Digi” logo, swapped instead for a fierce new owl mascot that pairs well with the guiding concept of “dignitas.” With silver added alongside the classic yellow and black team colors, as well as refreshed apparel via a deal with Champion, Dignitas unveiled its new look just in time for last weekend’s Heroes of the Storm Global Championship finals at BlizzCon, where the team finished second.

Next, Dignitas will defend its title at this weekend’s Rocket League Championship Series World Championship in Las Vegas. Ahead of the action, The Esports Observer spoke with Prindiville about the brand refresh, his first six months on the job, and big plans for the future of Dignitas.

First Moves



Prindiville, who came to Dignitas after co-creating and overseeing the Universal Open Rocket League tournament for NBC Sports, entered the organization with a mandate to give the long-running team a burst of fresh energy and thinking throughout. “On the organization side, I thought that there was a lot to do,” he said, including a need to both make improvements and leverage more of what HBSE’s assets could provide.

[perfectpullquote align=”right” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””]”There was a huge opportunity to plant a flag on the East Coast.”[/perfectpullquote]

Back in May, Prindiville mentioned the possibility of moving the team to Los Angeles. Instead, Dignitas decided to embrace the East Coast, where HBSE’s NBA team the 76ers and NHL team the New Jersey Devils are based. Now run out of the Devils’ Prudential Center home in Newark, New Jersey, Dignitas’ operations base is a short train ride from Prindiville’s own home of New York City.

“There was a huge opportunity to plant a flag on the East Coast, and that’s what we’ve done,” he said, adding that New York City could be the next big epicenter for esports events. “For me, I think that’s the next market that’s going to pop.”

Prindiville has also been evaluating his inherited teams and their respective games, and looking for places where the org might improve or pivot as needed. Dignitas has put a greater emphasis on creating content around its teams and players, taking advantage of his own media background with NBC Sports. “At the end of the day, every good esports organization is its own media company,” he said.

Ultimately, however, updating the branding for the organization was his first and biggest task, as Dignitas attempted to reshape its own perception for potentially years to come.

Digging Into ‘Dignitas’

“We literally spent the first three months, week in and week out, in meetings with the employees of our organization, grabbing our players for discussions as well, and really digging into who we are and who want to be,” he said. “That involved a tremendous amount of research into Dignitas and what it was.”

While the option to completely reboot the existing branding was on the table, the concept behind the ancient Roman word “dignitas” kept pulling them back in. As Prindiville and team interpret it, it’s the idea that a person should be viewed by peers based on his or her total contributions—that someone’s dignitas is shaped by how they carry themselves, treat other people, and act under pressure. As they dug deeper and deeper, they realized that they already had the perfect moniker. It just needed some finesse around it.

Credit: Dignitas

“It’s a brilliant concept of positivity, especially in this modern-day political climate,” he said. “We loved the idea that the more things you do well on this Earth and the better you treat people across all categories, then your dignitas is stronger and viewed in a brighter light. We liked that from an individual concept and an organizational concept, and we really just latched onto that. Dignitas was something we wanted to double down on, 100%.”

But the “Team” part of the original name wasn’t met with quite the same enthusiasm. When the organization was formed in 2003 as a Battlefield 1942 team, esports was still a very niche endeavor. The culture and climate have changed around it between then and today. Plus, Dignitas is now much larger than just one team. “Now we have seven teams and we have influencers, and we have new businesses that we’re trying to develop. We’re broadening out,” he said. “The ‘Team,’ I don’t think, made sense for us. I don’t think it makes sense for any org.”

On top of that, Prindiville said that with something like Overwatch League , which forces organizations to create exclusive new branding for teams, the idea of an organization being locked down to a single type of branding is limiting. Dignitas is open to shaking up its own branding further in the future, whether it’s as a requirement to join leagues with those types of stipulations or to take advantage of other possible opportunities with its individual teams.

[perfectpullquote align=”left” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””]”The owl of Minerva spreads its wings only with the falling of the dusk.”[/perfectpullquote]

“I’m of the camp that each team is its own brand, and going forward, we need to be flexible to either get in those new leagues and have those teams under the Dignitas portfolio, or take existing teams that we have in Dignitas—and under the right circumstances and right reasons, perhaps, rework their brand as well,” he said. “Losing ‘Team’ gives us that flexibility.”

Also new is the owl logo, which takes its inspiration from Minerva in Roman mythology. Dignitas wanted something with meaning that tied into the refreshed brand and ethos, and believed that a logo that exuded cleverness, intelligence, and a bit of mystery would do the trick. They found inspiration in the 19th-century quote from philosopher Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel, who wrote, “The owl of Minerva spreads its wings only with the falling of the dusk.”

“There’s really no time spent in the present focusing on who you are, because it’s all going to be written,” said Prindiville of his interpretation of the quote. “If you do things right in the moment, then you’ll never have to be looking back at your history, wondering what you did wrong. That owl really defines the concept of Dignitas.”

And while it means the demise of Digi, the original, alien-esque Team Dignitas logo, the change is all part of a more cohesive and meaningful brand approach. “While we love Digi and he’ll always remain with us, this was the logo that we fell in love with and will continue to use going forward,” he added.

The Path Forward



Six months into the job, Prindiville’s learning process is ongoing and “has been incredible,” he said, as he attempts to immerse himself in each game’s nuances.

“When you get into an organization that has seven or eight different teams across multiple games, you just see the depth and the totality of all of those things together,” he said. “Every game is so unique. The fans are so dedicated to that game, and there’s very little crossover with other games—so you have to learn the game, the fans, the depth, whether there’s scale, whether there’s not, the business, and the publisher. There are so many elements to consider around each one of these games, and being in each one of these games is literally its own business.”

But even with all of those differences and individual elements to soak in, he’s seen one commonality across games: the fans are deeply engaged and excited about them, which bodes well for the business side of esports.

“It seems like wherever I go, whether it’s the Rocket League World Championship, a [Counter-Strike: Global Offensive] Major, the Overwatch League grand finals, or BlizzCon for Heroes of the Storm—wherever you go to see that, it is a sponsor’s dream,” he said. “Because the crowd is so big, so sick, and so engaged. It would give anyone hope about the future of esports overall in that particular game, as they continue to broaden their horizons and experience new opportunities and new tournaments.”

What’s next, then? Prindiville said that “the goal is always to be one of the top esports organizations in North America and Europe. There’s no question about that. To get there, it’s a long road.” However, he feels confident that HBSE sees and understands that long path, and is ready to support the organization’s gradual climb to greatness.

Pictured: Mike Prindville. Image Credit: Dignitas

Getting there might mean leaving some of Dignitas’ current esports teams behind, however. Dignitas sees each game as a business, and some might not make as much sense to continue on in—or it might be worth pulling out of certain games in order to make a concerted push elsewhere.

“The reality of the situation is probably the same with any other org. You’re probably going to see us get out of a couple games, and we might get into a couple games as well,” he said. “We might have to contract a little bit before we expand, but that’s the accordion approach that you need to have: stay light on your feet and be able to pivot as you see models emerge or models change that make better sense for your business.”

[perfectpullquote align=”right” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””]”We’re not only bullish on the future of esports; we’re bullish on the whole ecosystem.”[/perfectpullquote]

Making a push to secure a team in a Tier 1 esport is a primary goal for Dignitas, but it has to be a financial and strategic fit for the organization and its evolving needs. Prindiville said that they are speaking with game publishers, other organizations, and potential partners about making that work, but didn’t specifically mention any particular opportunities on the horizon. Ultimately, Dignitas’ competitive aspirations are just one part of the overall business, which he plans to help grow in varying directions to help the organization live on well into the future.