Torque Esports Corp., Frankly Inc., and WinView Inc. have announced the completion of a merger, six months after revealing that it was being pursued.
With Frankly and WinView under the ownership of Torque Esports, it will operate as Engine Media moving forward.
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Now with a diverse range of assets under the new name, Engine Media is expected to assist in the launch of new esports and live gaming experiences through its established partnerships.
Tom Rogers, Executive Chairman of Engine Media, commented on the merger in a release: “Entertainment programming has moved quickly into the streaming world and now news and sports revenue models are highly challenged as subscriber fees from the traditional bundle models decline. As we have seen through the shelter-in-place orders during the COVID-19 pandemic, news and sports are searching for solutions that help them better access consumers, provide programming and unique experiences and tap into new revenue streams.
“Engine Media is coming to the table with new ways for the news, information, sports and esports content to thrive in this new media marketplace. While each of these businesses have established themselves by focusing on pieces of a new model, combining and integrating them together can create the scale that will not only benefit investors, but better serve clients, partners and customers in this new world.”
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With the business combination complete, Rogers has been appointed Executive Chairman, Lou Schwartz and Darren Cox have been appointed as Co-Chief Executive Officers, and Michael Munoz has become the new Chief Financial Officer in place of Robert Suttie who resigned.
Newly appointed Co-CEO Schwartz expressed his excitement surrounding the new venture: “I am excited to be able to work with Tom and Darren to lead this company forward. We have a real treasure trove of assets in terms of technology, content, relationships and people. Our immediate goal is to put this all together quickly and effectively so that we can capitalize on the many opportunities that are in front of us to deliver compelling experiences for consumers, enhance the performance of our partners, grow revenues, drive profits and deliver value for our shareholders.”
Esports Insider says: This deal has been a long time coming for all parties involved. It will be interesting to see how the company grows given the lack of live events taking place due to the current global situation.