The Mission
Nine hours remained between the North American Challenger Series acquisition deadline and the moment Amro "noXn" Hamza became the owner of an eSports franchise.
Negotiations had gone stale between the former VexX Gaming co-owner and Team Dragon Knights, a Challenger team recently banned for their transgressions in a messy situation involving suspended owners and illegal trading. Hamza and another co-owner in the VexX franchise had reached out jointly to TDK soon after their ban to seek information on a possible acquisition.
Though VexX already fields teams in Gears of War, Call of Duty, Counter Strike, Rainbow 6, Super Smash Bros., and Brawlhalla, the organization's assets did not include a League of Legends team. Through an aggressive but frugal acquisition, they looked to dive headfirst into the sport, aiming to take over essentially all of TDK's assets, including the gaming house and roster. With talent like Noh "Ninja" Geon-woo, Oh "Ohq" Gyu-min and Shin "Seraph" Woo-yeong still available at the time, the value of such an acquisition would be immense.
Talks were ceased, however, after NRG eSports joined the fray, potentially looking to expand into Challenger similarly to Cloud 9, Apex Gaming, and Team Liquid. NRG's effort obviously proved to be fruitless, but they managed to walk away from the negotiations with Ohq in their pocket. Seraph and Ninja followed their natural trajectory back to EnVyUs, who had recently acquired the LCS spot of banned franchise LA Renegades.
With only hours left, VexX and NRG out of the picture, and many of the original assets gone, Hamza felt some desire to keep his hat in the ring.
In the closing hours of the final day to transfer roster ownership, Team Dragon Knights phoned Hamza to inform him that they were ready to make a deal.
"I feel like I fell into this. I wasn’t planning this, it was an opportunity that was there and I kinda jumped at it."
After phone calls with lawyers, paperwork submitted minutes before deadlines, and many hours of volunteer work, an eSports franchise was born. Hamza acknowledges that it was difficult to move on from VexX, but this was a significant investment monetarily, and a huge risk for his own personal brand. The decision to play ball in the big leagues was one he wanted to make himself, and his destiny one he wanted to have sole control over. The decision to fly solo was not easy, he says, but it was necessary.
Enter Eanix.
According to Hamza, the new eSports franchise has already brought on a support staff consisting of franchise General Manager Elliott Hancock, League of Legends manager Frank Fang, analyst Kris Reynolds, and head coach Austin "Pomi" Wright. The coaching staff was announced days before the release of Eanix's maiden lineup, which will be published Friday alongside the rosters for a Counter Strike team to compete in the ESEA Premier League and the acquisition of one of North America's top 5 Rocket League teams.
The Man
A professed fan of Tyler "Skadoodle" Latham and Chipotle and a shameless enemy of Banshee and Nicolas Cage, Hamza struck me as the down-to-earth sort that doesn't concern himself with the nose-up philosophy many public figures in eSports seem to have adopted. He credits his ability to write to MUD game DragonRealms, and his ability to drive to arcade game Initial D. He played Counter Strike at a semi-professional level in the early 2000's, and jokes about how he could never be good enough to play pro, but ownership is the next best thing.
He bleeds gaming. He draws inspiration from innovators such as Jason Lake from Complexity or eSports entrepreneur Craig Levine. He even cites UFC president Dana White as someone he respects simply for being unafraid to not sugarcoat his message.
“I want people to get to know us and feel like they can get close to us and really root for a team that they actually know, not just rooting for a logo. I want to have a loyal fanbase.”
Hamza aims to build his franchise around the central concepts of accessibility and transparency. Decrying the stonewalled nature of many eSports franchises, he and I discussed the importance to fans of feeling like they have a stake in the success of their favorite teams, building an environment where their fervent support matters and has genuine influence on gameday.
His recent Reddit AMA is filled with politically incorrect and irrelevant questions, most of which he answers with honest joy, as if the words themselves are smiling. The Q&A session managed to shed the common Reddit-brand toxicity to create what can be best described as a festive environment.
Such is the kind of environment he hopes to create in the team house. He wants his players to be actively accessible to fans on social media despite their busy schedules. It's Eanix's priority to be perhaps the friendliest team in professional League of Legends, allowing fans to root not for just a logo or a player, but to grow a deeply held passion for the team. When it comes down to business, though, it's just that. Business.
Hamza plans to be an owner who engages with his players insofar as they need a mentor, a listening ear, and someone to guide them professionally. When it comes to interpersonal relationships, though, he values being taken seriously. After all, the goal is to win, not to be liked. Eanix joins a Challenger series stacked with NALCS B-teams, and knows that at the end of the day, relegation is always a possibility.
After all, the risk is massive. Though he has secured financial backing from investors, this is still his baby and a venture he has invested a significant amount of capital in. If the team he has assembled does not perform to their potential in a talent-rich Challenger Series, and if the team falls to relegation, the most central component of that investment will be lost.
With so much at stake, however, Amro Hamza is unafraid to seize the opportunities in front of him. He's an eSports zealot who craves success.
And he's going to have a whole lot of fun along the way.
