The Philadelphia 76ers are a professional organization that is part of the National Basketball Association. But, you probably knew that. You might know about the Gatorade League team that they own, the Delaware 87ers. My fingers are still crossed for an eventual WNBA team.
Anyway, I wanted to talk about the most recent member of the Philadelphia 76ers that seems to not have been highlighted as much. Team Dignitas. Now, the Sixers grabbed this team in 2016, but, this team is actually a combination of two teams the Sixers bought: Dignitas and Apex.
Now, Team Dignitas is an esports team. Now, before we continue, let me explain what “esports” is. To help you, think of this name as similar to how “email” is. Got it? So, it’s electronic sports. Esports. In the world of esports, it’s mainly focused on multiplayer gaming, especially Role Player Games (RPGs). Teams of gamers come together and…play games. They play for prizes and have sponsors and all of these things.
So, why did the Sixers buy this team? Why go into the esports world? Well, a few months ago, we got an update that Team Dignitas was going to form a team to compete in NBA 2K tournaments. This is an excellent chance to bring esports and…uh…”regular” sports together.
There are other reasons why the Sixers would make this investment, of course. Team Dignitas is part of the Sixers family. Even if you don’t care for esports, know that this team exists and, as a Sixers fan, you should probably care on some level.
I’m going to hit you with a few links. This is an interview (video) of a couple of women on Team Dignitas. They talk about women in professional gaming as well as a little bit of life in the pro gaming world. Gives you an idea of how things are. It’s a little less than 8 minutes long.
This one is much longer. This video interview talks about the similarities and differences of esports and traditional sports. A member of the Sixers and Team Dignitas talk things out. It’s a little more than 23 minutes long, but, if you’re really trying to get a handle of esports and how the Sixers looked at this world, this is a really great video to watch. This sport is already big on the global scale and it’s poised to get bigger. The Sixers noticed this trend and they went for it.
Visit Team Dignitas' website to learn more about the organization.
So, what do you think? Were you already a fan? Are you still not interested? Are you a new fan after reading this post? Let me know how you feel about Team Dignitas.
