Bronny James and Kyle Murray are among the sports stars who moonlight as members of the historic esports company.
FaZe Clan, one of the biggest brands in esports, went public Wednesday. The company is now trading on Nasdaq under the new ticker symbols “FAZE” and “FAZEW.”
The move comes following a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) merger with B. Riley Principal 150 Merger Corp. After planning for a $1 billion deal in October, it is now valued at $725 million. The move marks a historic step forward for companies in the “creator economy.”
The company, founded in 2010 with a focus on gaming and esports, has grown an impressive roster of over 100 personalities, including a number of major players in the world of sports and entertainment.
Bronny James, a high school basketball star and son of LeBron James, and Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray appeared in a Sports Illustrated cover story last July after joining FaZe. NBA players Ben Simmons, Jamal Murray, Meyers Leonard and Josh Hart and skateboarding star Nyjah Huston are among the company’s celebrity investors from the sports world. Rappers Snoop Dogg and Lil Yachty are also FaZe Clan members.
The company boasts a “growing fan base network of approximately 500 million” across combined social platforms, which it says rivals traditional sports franchises and leagues. Eighty percent of its audience falls in the coveted 13–34 age demographic. In May, Forbes ranked FaZe Clan as the fourth most valuable company in esports.
Despite the significant losses that many companies that have gone through SPAC mergers have seen over the last year, FaZe Clan CEO Lee Trink still believes that it was the correct move for the company.
“I understand why other companies have been criticized for going public via the SPAC vehicle. But for us, it really fits,” he said, per CNBC.
Trink says that the company believes it is the first “Gen Z native brand” and “certainly the first creator-based brand to go public.”
“FaZe Clan will fund investments and we will create the product and we’ll own a bigger piece of the upside. That’s the future of the creator economy,” Trink said.
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