[hkes_show_google_ad] Misfits owner Ben Spoont says that one of the primary reasons why his organization partnered with the National Basketball Association’s Miami Heat was to take advantage of their “knowledge and expertise” in business growth, he said in an interview on SiriusXM ESPORTS with Kevin Knocke. Though Misfits are a young esports organization, forming in mid 2016, they already field a League of Legends team that’s been promoted into the EU LCS, an Overwatch team that won ELEAGUE’s Overwatch Open and have promising forays into Super Smash Bros. Melee and Heroes of the Storm. According to Spoont, growing an esports org needs more than just victories. “And one of the other elements to having a successful esports org are very complicated and very nuanced aspects in the business, like merchandise, marketing, digital, sponsorship, ad sales, activation.” he said. “These are all pieces of the business that are going to be fundamental to our growth, and so as we look build out our infrastructure, partnering with someone like the Miami Heat, who has immense knowledge and expertise in each of those areas, it really was a fantastic partnership. “And to the extent that they’re going to be involved and integrated, it’s going to be very extensively. We’ve had meetings where it’s been 10 or 15 people from the Miami HEAT, and Michael [McCullough] can expand on the integration piece here, but the Miami HEAT are going to be the key drivers in many key aspects of our business.” The partnership is not just a big opportunity for Misfits, but for the Heat as well. According to the Miami Heat’s executive vice president and CMO Michael McCullough, Misfits represents an opportunity to reach the growing, millennial esports community. “We recognize that what esports brings to NBA teams is the opportunity to get involved at the ground floor of something that’s really emerging with an audience that’s primarily younger, millennial folks who are just coming into either the job market or into the opportunity where they can become participating fans of the stick’n’ball sports, as Ben likes to call us,” McCullough said. [hkes_show_google_ad]