Esports Entertainment Group Announces Alex Igelman as Chief Executive Officer

St. Julians, Malta–(Newsfile Corp. – December 23, 2022) –  Esports Entertainment Group, Inc. (NASDAQ: GMBL) (NASDAQ: GMBLP) (NASDAQ: GMBLW) (NASDAQ: GMBLZ) (or the “Company” or “EEG”) today announced the appointment of Alex Igelman as Chief Executive Officer (“CEO”) following the departure of Grant Johnson on December 3, 2022, who served as Chairman and CEO.

Mr. Igelman joins the Company as CEO with more than 30 years of experience in the gaming industry. He is a gaming lawyer and the co-founder of FairP2P and Esports Capital Corp., entities which have been leaders in their respective sectors. During his career, Mr. Igelman worked across the gambling and gaming industry in a variety of senior leadership positions. “We are excited to have Alex join the senior leadership team. He brings a wealth of knowledge, experience, and fresh perspective as we move the company forward. We welcome Alex to the Company,” said Jan Jones Blackhurst, Chair of the Board of Directors.

“I am thrilled for the opportunity to join EEG at this important time in its journey and to work alongside someone as experienced and respected as the new Chair, Jan Jones Blackhurst. The Company is making significant strides to refine its focus on creating a valuable esports brand and is initially looking inward at some of its key assets to kickstart this process. The company also owns certain valuable assets and relationships in the esports sector and there is a substantial growing addressable domestic esports betting market for the company to take a leadership position in. The company will continue to structure its operations and financial position to maximize value for shareholders. I look forward to bringing my experience into the leadership of the Company and to focus on the execution of these transformative initiatives,” said Mr. Igelman.

In connection with Mr. Igelman’s appointment as CEO, the Company entered into an employment agreement (the “Agreement”) on December 22, 2022, which provides for the grant of common stock and stock options to Mr. Igelman on the effective date of the Agreement, or January 3, 2023. These stock awards are being granted as inducement equity awards outside the Company’s Esports Entertainment Group, Inc. 2020 Equity Incentive Plan in accordance with NASDAQ Listing Rule 5635(c)(4). Pursuant to the terms of the Agreement, subject to the commencement of his employment, the Company will grant Mr. Igelman an award of 2,500,000 shares of common stock and an award of 2,500,000 time-based stock options. Mr. Igelman’s shares of common stock may not be sold or transferred until the six-month anniversary of the date of grant. Mr. Igelman’s stock options will vest in equal quarterly installments over a one-year period subject to his continued employment with the Company on the applicable vesting dates. The stock awards are subject to the terms of an award agreement outlining the specific terms of the stock awards.

About Esports Entertainment Group

Esports Entertainment Group (NASDAQ: GMBL) (EEG) is a full-service esports and online betting company. Today, EEG focuses on three verticals: Games, iGaming, and Technology. EEG Games provides a wide array of services and infrastructure for businesses to engage esports and gaming communities around the world including Esports Gaming League (EGL), which hosts a community of more than 350,000 gamers on its proprietary tournament platform EGL.tv. EEG iGaming includes a number of award-winning brands covering traditional online sports book wagering needs as well as a multinational casino operator. EEG Technology builds next-generation platforms, features, and services for Millennials, Gen Z consumers, and brands looking to connect with these demographics. EEG has offices in New Jersey, Estonia, the United Kingdom, and Malta. For more information, visit www.esportsentertainmentgroup.com.

Forward-Looking Statements

The information contained herein includes forward-looking statements, as defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements generally can be identified by words such as “anticipates,” “believes,” “estimates,” “expects,” “intends,” “plans,” “predicts,” “projects,” “will be,” “will continue,” “will likely result,” and similar expressions. These statements relate to future events or to our future financial performance, and involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause our actual results, levels of activity, performance, or achievements to be materially different from any future results, levels of activity, performance or achievements expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements. You should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements since they involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which are, in some cases, beyond our control and which could, and likely will, materially affect actual results, levels of activity, performance or achievements. Factors that could cause or contribute to such differences include, but are not limited to, those discussed in our most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K and subsequent Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, and those discussed in other documents we file with the SEC, regarding our ability to continue as a going concern, our ability to regain compliance with Nasdaq Listing Rules, our significant indebtedness, and our obligations under our Senior Convertible Note. Any forward-looking statement reflects our current views with respect to future events and is subject to these and other risks, uncertainties and assumptions relating to our operations, results of operations, growth strategy and liquidity. We assume no obligation to publicly update or revise these forward-looking statements for any reason, or to update the reasons actual results could differ materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements, even if new information becomes available in the future, unless required by law. The safe harbor for forward-looking statements contained in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 protects companies from liability for their forward-looking statements if they comply with the requirements of the Act.

Investor Relations Inquiries

[email protected]

Is the ever-changing face of global privacy a good thing?

Implementing and managing conflicting policies to address regional or global privacy requirements can often lead to confusion. 

It forces multinational organisations to be intentional with their data privacy. Not simply put something in place once and forget about it but keep up to date with developing regulatory frameworks and continuously review and revise their privacy programme.

As a basic example, let’s take the deadlines for responding to Subject Access Requests. A company with customers spanning across the EU and Brazil will have implemented processes to allow responses within one month and fifteen days (respectively). Another example is the implementation of marketing or cookie consent on global websites, applying opt-ins to EU-based customers to satisfy GDPR and ePrivacy Directive requirements as well as opt-outs to satisfy the requirements of others (CCPA).

While it may appear easier to focus on the disadvantages of this changing landscape and question the value in devoting resources to addressing these requirements, linking back to my previous post, devoting resources towards baking Privacy By Design into the core of your business will yield positive results. Being intentional about global compliance will be apparent to customers and lead to greater public trust.

As with any element of successfully managing a business, privacy requirements are constantly evolving. By avoiding a “one take” approach, but instead applying a cyclical approach as you would with all other areas of data governance, an organisation can ensure that it remains ahead of the game and compliant in all regions that it operates in. I have created a simple acronym to help identify the steps: DAME (Design, Apply, Monitor and Evaluate) on a regular basis not just to stay ahead of the regulations, but to ensure it is constantly fit for purpose.

  • Design how privacy fits in to your data governance and long-term business strategy
  • Apply what you have designed
  • Monitor constantly to ensure compliance and identify any issues
  • Evaluate on a frequent basis whether this is still fit for purpose and the optimal way of achieving what you want.

Written by Larry CokerGlobal Data Protection Officer

Esports Entertainment Group Announces Registered Direct Offering and Private Placement

t. Julians, Malta–(Newsfile Corp. – December 21, 2022) – Esports Entertainment Group, Inc. (NASDAQ: GMBL) (NASDAQ: GMBLP) (NASDAQ: GMBLW) (NASDAQ: GMBLZ) (or the “Company”) today announced that it has entered into a securities purchase agreement with the holder of its Senior Convertible Note (“Holder”) for the purchase and sale of 7,065,000 shares of the Company’s common stock and pre-funded warrants to purchase 17,850,000 shares of common stock in a registered direct offering at an effective purchase price of $0.0937 per share or per pre-funded warrant. Upon completion of the offering, the Holder will own approximately 9.9% of the outstanding common stock of the Company.

Jan Jones Blackhurst, Chair of the Company’s Board of Directors, said, “We are pleased to be working with a very important stakeholder to raise capital and build our business. We remain excited about the future and the possibilities ahead, and also look forward to naming a CEO in the very near term that will start our next chapter.”

Total gross proceeds from the offering, before deducting the offering expenses, was approximately $2.3 million. The pre-funded warrants are exercisable immediately upon issuance.

In a concurrent private placement, the Company is also issuing 100 shares of series B mirroring preferred stock (“Series B Preferred Stock”). At the next annual meeting of stockholders, the Company will call for the approval of, among other things, a proposal to effect a reverse stock split (“Reverse Stock Split Proposal”) of the Company’s common stock without a corresponding reduction in the authorized shares of common stock. The Series B Preferred Stock has voting rights on the Reverse Stock Split Proposal equal to 25,000,000 votes per share of Series B Preferred Stock, provided that any votes cast by the Series B Preferred Stock with respect to the Reverse Stock Split Proposal must be counted by the Company in the same proportion as the shares of common stock voted on this proposal. Each share of Series B Preferred Stock has a par value of $0.001 per share and a stated value of $1,000 and will be automatically redeemed by the Company upon stockholder approval of a reverse stock split of the Company’s shares of common stock.

The offerings closed on December 21, 2022. Pursuant to the Company’s plans to increase liquidity and maintain compliance with the Nasdaq Listing Rules, the Company anticipates raising additional funds in the near term either through a private placement or public offering of common stock.

The shares of common stock and pre-funded warrants sold by us have been registered pursuant to a registration statement on Form S-3 (File No. 333-252370), which the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “Commission”) declared effective on February 5, 2021. A final prospectus supplement and accompanying base prospectus relating to the offering were filed with the Commission on December 21, 2022, and are available at www.sec.gov.

This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy these securities, nor shall there be any sale of these securities in any state or other jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to the registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such state or other jurisdiction.

Additional information regarding the securities described above and the terms of the offering will be included in a Current Report on Form 8-K to be filed with the Commission.

About Esports Entertainment Group

Esports Entertainment Group (NASDAQ: GMBL) (EEG) is a full-service esports and online betting company. EEG focuses on three verticals: Games, iGaming, and Technology. EEG Games provides a wide array of services and infrastructure for businesses to engage esports and gaming communities around the world including Esports Gaming League (EGL), which hosts a community of more than 350,000 gamers on its proprietary tournament platform EGL.tv. EEG iGaming includes a number of award-winning brands covering traditional online sports book wagering needs as well as a multinational casino operator. EEG Technology builds next-generation platforms, features, and services for Millennials, Gen Z consumers, and brands looking to connect with these demographics. EEG has offices in New Jersey, Estonia, the United Kingdom, and Malta. For more information, visit www.esportsentertainmentgroup.com.

Forward-Looking Statements

The information contained herein includes forward-looking statements, as defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including statements relating to our intention to conduct an offering and sale of securities, the ability to complete the offering and expected use of proceeds. Forward-looking statements generally can be identified by words such as “anticipates,” “believes,” “estimates,” “expects,” “intends,” “plans,” “predicts,” “projects,” “will be,” “will continue,” “will likely result,” and similar expressions. These statements relate to future events or to our future financial performance, and involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause our actual results, levels of activity, performance, or achievements to be materially different from any future results, levels of activity, performance or achievements expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements. You should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements since they involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which are, in some cases, beyond our control and which could, and likely will, materially affect actual results, levels of activity, performance or achievements. Factors that could cause or contribute to such differences include, but are not limited to, those discussed in our most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K and subsequent Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, and those discussed in other documents we file with the SEC, regarding our ability to continue as a going concern, our ability to regain compliance with Nasdaq Listing Rules, our significant indebtedness, and our obligations under our Senior Convertible Note. Any forward-looking statement reflects our current views with respect to future events and is subject to these and other risks, uncertainties and assumptions relating to our operations, results of operations, growth strategy and liquidity. We assume no obligation to publicly update or revise these forward-looking statements for any reason, or to update the reasons actual results could differ materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements, even if new information becomes available in the future, unless required by law. The safe harbor for forward-looking statements contained in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 protects companies from liability for their forward-looking statements if they comply with the requirements of the Act.

Investor Relations Inquiries

[email protected]

Esports Entertainment Group Announces Leadership Changes and Business Update

St. Julians, Malta–(Newsfile Corp. – December 7, 2022) – Esports Entertainment Group, Inc. (NASDAQ: GMBL) (NASDAQ: GMBLP) (NASDAQ: GMBLW) (NASDAQ: GMBLZ) (the “Company” or “EEG”) today announced the departure of Grant Johnson from his position as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, effective December 3, 2022. The Board of Directors has identified several candidates to be the Company’s next CEO, and these candidates are currently going through the evaluation process. The Company has identified a preferred candidate for interim/acting CEO, and we will make a formal announcement naming this individual in the coming days pending a formal approval by the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee. The Company has also announced Jan Jones Blackhurst as Chair of the Board of Directors.

“Grant recognized the value of esports and online gambling and founded EEG on that basis. On behalf of the Board, we wish him well,” said Ms. Jones Blackhurst. “The Company is looking forward to bringing in new leadership to work with Board to realize the full potential of our acquired esports businesses.”

Sale and Restructuring in the iGaming Business

The Company has made significant progress in recent months reducing costs and considering strategic options for iGaming assets that do not contribute to profits and cash flow. The progress includes:

  • Sale of the Company’s online casino business in Spain. The sale of the online casino business in Spain is expected to close on December 12, 2022. The proceeds from the sale, net of commissions, will be used primarily to pay down the principal on the Senior Convertible Note.
  • Closing of the Argyll iGaming operations in the United Kingdom and Ireland on December 7, 2022, due to high costs to operate in these markets and an inability to generate profits.
  • Initiation of a process to evaluate the strategic options for the iGaming business, including exploring a sale of iGaming assets due to increasing regulatory burdens and competition. Our new CEO will be tasked with assessing the value of the iGaming assets and determining next steps.

Other Key Announcements

The Company continues to execute on its plan to be publicly listed on Nasdaq, while restructuring its debt and capitalizing on its esports assets:

  • The Company announced that it obtained approval for continued listing on the Nasdaq. The Company’s continued listing on Nasdaq is subject to evidencing compliance with Nasdaq requirements by March 31, 2023.
  • The Company is in discussions with its debt holder to restructure its payment obligations, including but not limited to eliminating the derivative liability on its consolidated balance and addressing the Company’s default status under the debt. The Company is optimistic that an agreement can be reached to the benefit of both parties in the near term.
  • The Company recently received a non-binding letter of intent from a third party that offered to merge its assets, including intellectual property, with that of the Company. The combined company would focus on growing esports revenues. The proposal is currently under consideration by the Company.

About Esports Entertainment Group

Esports Entertainment Group (NASDAQ: GMBL) (EEG) is a full-service esports and online betting company. EEG focuses on three verticals: Games, iGaming, and Technology. EEG Games provides a wide array of services and infrastructure for businesses to engage esports and gaming communities around the world including Esports Gaming League (EGL), which hosts a community of more than 350,000 gamers on its proprietary tournament platform EGL.tv. EEG iGaming includes a number of award-winning brands covering traditional online sports book wagering needs as well as a multinational casino operator. EEG Technology builds next-generation platforms, features, and services for Millennials, Gen Z consumers, and brands looking to connect with these demographics. EEG has offices in New Jersey, Estonia, the United Kingdom, and Malta. For more information, visit www.esportsentertainmentgroup.com.

Forward-Looking Statements

The information contained herein includes forward-looking statements. These statements relate to future events or to our future financial performance, and involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause our actual results, levels of activity, performance, or achievements to be materially different from any future results, levels of activity, performance or achievements expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements. You should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements since they involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which are, in some cases, beyond our control and which could, and likely will, materially affect actual results, levels of activity, performance or achievements. Any forward-looking statement reflects our current views with respect to future events and is subject to these and other risks, uncertainties and assumptions relating to our operations, results of operations, growth strategy and liquidity. We assume no obligation to publicly update or revise these forward-looking statements for any reason, or to update the reasons actual results could differ materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements, even if new information becomes available in the future. The safe harbor for forward-looking statements contained in the Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 protects companies from liability for their forward-looking statements if they comply with the requirements of the Act.

Investor Relations Inquiries

[email protected]

Esports Entertainment Group Receives Approval for Continued Nasdaq Listing

St. Julians, Malta – December 5, 2022 – Esports Entertainment Group, Inc. (Nasdaq: GMBL, GMBLP, GMBLW, GMBLZ) (or the “Company”) today announced that on November 30, 2022, the Nasdaq Hearings Panel granted its request for continued listing on The Nasdaq Capital Market (“Nasdaq”). The Company’s continued listing on Nasdaq is subject to its evidencing compliance with the minimum bid price requirement by February 7, 2023, evidencing compliance with the shareholder equity requirement of a minimum $2.5 million stockholder’s equity by March 31, 2023, and adhering to certain other conditions and requirements. The Company is in the process of taking definitive steps to comply with all applicable conditions and criteria for continued listing on Nasdaq.

About Esports Entertainment Group

Esports Entertainment Group (NASDAQ: GMBL) (EEG) is a full-service esports and online betting company. EEG focuses on three verticals: Games, iGaming, and Technology. EEG Games provides a wide array of services and infrastructure for businesses to engage esports and gaming communities around the world including Esports Gaming League (EGL), which hosts a community of more than 350,000 gamers on its proprietary tournament platform EGL.tv. EEG iGaming includes a number of award-winning brands covering traditional online sports book wagering needs as well as a multinational casino operator. EEG Technology builds next-generation platforms, features, and services for Millennials, Gen Z consumers, and brands looking to connect with these demographics. EEG has offices in New Jersey, Estonia, the United Kingdom, and Malta. For more information, visit www.esportsentertainmentgroup.com.

Forward-Looking Statements

The information contained herein includes forward-looking statements. These statements relate to future events or to our future financial performance, and involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause our actual results, levels of activity, performance, or achievements to be materially different from any future results, levels of activity, performance or achievements expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements. You should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements since they involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which are, in some cases, beyond our control and which could, and likely will, materially affect actual results, levels of activity, performance or achievements. Any forward-looking statement reflects our current views with respect to future events and is subject to these and other risks, uncertainties and assumptions relating to our operations, results of operations, growth strategy and liquidity. We assume no obligation to publicly update or revise these forward-looking statements for any reason, or to update the reasons actual results could differ materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements, even if new information becomes available in the future. The safe harbor for forward-looking statements contained in the Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 protects companies from liability for their forward-looking statements if they comply with the requirements of the Act.