Monumental Sports and Entertainment Hires Grant Paranjape as Director of Esports Business and Team Operations

Monumental Sports & Entertainment (MSE) has hired Grant Paranjape as its new Director of Esports Business and Team Operations. As director of esports, Paranjape will report to Zach Leonsis and will direct strategy and business initiatives for MSE’s esports business operations, including for its forthcoming NBA 2K esports team.  With this hire, MSE becomes one of the first ownership groups in the NBA to hire a fulltime director to oversee the management and growth of its NBA2K operation.

Esports’ current market is $892 million and projected to surpass $1 billion in 2017, according to a SuperData report, which finds that Asia currently accounts for $328 million in revenue, followed by North America ($275 million) and Europe ($269 million). SuperData’s research found that sponsorship and advertising accounted for $661 million.

“We are thrilled to welcome Grant to our team here at Monumental,” says Leonsis, SVP and General Manager of Monumental Sports Network.  “We see esports as the next great frontier in sports and entertainment — and a crucial part of our larger strategic efforts to engage younger fans.  In addition to launching two AFL teams, we are relentlessly building our esports business to meet this young, voraciously growing audience where they are: on digital and OTT platforms.  With his experience and his comprehensive understanding of the esports landscape, Grant will play a big part in helping us capitalize on our work to engage this critically important demographic.”

 “I am thrilled to join the team here at Monumental Sports and Entertainment,” says Paranjape. “MSE has been a visionary in working to develop a robust esports operation and I’m looking forward to working with the team here to further expand our esports practice. With a history of innovation and technological excellence, MSE’s focus on esports will allow our team to provide fans with industry leading content and an exceptional viewing experience.”

In addition to NBA2K, MSE also owns a stake in Esports organization Team Liquid, which had the single most profitable day in the history of competitive gaming.

Paranjape comes to MSE from Splyce Inc. where he secured partner relationships, lead business initiatives, and worked with team managers to create a quality experience for players across 11 titles.  He has previously worked with Skill-Capped.com to manage content creation by Esports players and Caerus Management as a research analyst.