RISK FACTORS
Investing in our common stock involves a great deal of risk. Careful consideration should be made of the following factors as well as other information included in this prospectus before deciding to purchase our common stock. There are many risks that affect our business and results of operations, some of which are beyond our control. Our business, financial condition or operating results could be materially harmed by any of these risks. This could cause the trading price of our common stock to decline, and you may lose all or part of your investment. Additional risks that we do not yet know of or that we currently think are immaterial may also affect our business and results of operations.
Risks Related to Our Business
We are a development stage company with a limited operating history.
While we were incorporated under the laws of Nevada in July 2008, we did not begin to engage in our current business until May 2013 and our operations since that time have been mostly limited to designing, developing and testing our wagering systems. We have had de minimis revenues to date. Consequently, we are subject to all the risks and uncertainties inherent in a new business and in connection with the development and sale of new products and services. As a result, we still must establish many corporate functions necessary to operate our business, including finalizing our administrative structure, continuing our product development, assessing and expanding our marketing activities, implementing financial systems and controls and personnel recruitment. Accordingly, you should consider the Company’s prospects in light of the costs, uncertainties, delays, and difficulties frequently encountered by companies in this early stage of development. You should carefully consider the risks and uncertainties that a company, such as ours, with a limited operating history will face. In particular, you should consider that we cannot provide assurance that we will be able to:
• successfully implement or execute our current business plan;
• maintain our management team;
• raise sufficient funds in the capital markets to effectuate our business plan;
• attract, enter into or maintain contracts with, and retain customers; and/or
• compete effectively in the extremely competitive environment in which we operate.
If we cannot successfully accomplish any of the foregoing objectives, our business may not succeed.
We have a history of accumulated deficits, recurring losses and negative cash flows from operating activities. We may be unable to achieve or sustain profitability or continue as a going concern.
To date, we have recorded de minimis revenues from the sale of our products. If we are unable to generate revenues, we will not be able to achieve and maintain profitability. Beyond this, we may incur significant losses in the future for a number of reasons including other risks described in this document, and we may encounter unforeseen expenses, difficulties, complications, delays and other unknown events. Accordingly, we may not ever be able to achieve profitability. We incurred negative cash flows from operating activities and recurring net losses in fiscal years 2019 and 2018. We had no working capital at the end of each of those years. As of June 30, 2019 and 2018, our accumulated deficit was $10,184,187 and $3,802,822, respectively. These factors, among others, raise substantial doubt about our ability to continue as a going concern. The financial statements included in this prospectus do not include any adjustments that might result from the outcome of this uncertainty. In order for us to remove substantial doubt about our ability to continue as a going concern, we must achieve profitability, generate positive cash flows from operating activities and obtain necessary debt or equity funding. If we are unable to increase revenues or obtain additional financing, we will be unable to continue the development of our products and services and we may have to cease operations. In that event you could lose your entire investment.
Our consolidated financial statements have been prepared on the assumption that we will continue as a going concern. Our independent registered public accounting firms have included an explanatory paragraph in our consolidated financial statements for the fiscal years ended June 30, 2019 and 2018 stating that our operating losses and limited working capital, raise substantial doubt about our ability to continue as a going concern. To date, it has been necessary to rely upon debt and the sale of our equity securities to sustain operations. Our management anticipates that we will require additional capital to fund ongoing operations without taking into account the proceeds from this offering.
10
There can be no guarantee that we will be able to obtain such funds, or obtain them on satisfactory terms, and that such funds would be sufficient. If such additional funding is not obtained, we may be required to scale back or cease operations.
We will require additional financing and cannot be certain that such additional financing will be available on reasonable terms when required, or at all.
To date, the Company has relied primarily on equity financing to carry on its business. The Company has limited financial resources, has no operating cash flow and has no assurance that sufficient funding will be available to it to fund its operating expenses and to further develop its business. As of June 30, 2019, we had cash of $43,412. We expect the net proceeds from this offering, along with our current cash position, will enable us to fund our operating expenses and capital expenditure requirements for at least the next 12 months. Thereafter, unless we achieve profitability, we anticipate that we will need to raise additional capital to fund our operations while we implement and execute our business plan. We currently do not have any contracts or commitments for additional financing. In addition, any additional equity financing may involve substantial dilution to then existing shareholders. There can be no assurance that such additional capital will be available, on a timely basis, or on terms acceptable to the Company. Failure to obtain such additional financing could result in delay or indefinite postponement of operations or the further development of its business with the possible loss of such properties or assets. If adequate funds are not available or are not available on acceptable terms, the Company may not be able to fund its business or the expansion thereof, take advantage of strategic acquisitions or investment opportunities or respond to competitive pressures. Such inability to obtain additional financing when needed could have a material adverse effect on the Company’s business, results of operations, cash flow, financial condition and prospects.
Risks Related to the Company’s Business
The gaming and interactive entertainment industries are intensely competitive. Esports faces competition from a growing number of companies and, if Esports is unable to compete effectively, its business could be negatively impacted.
There is intense competition amongst gaming solution providers. There are a number of established, well financed companies producing both land-based and online gaming and interactive entertainment products and systems that compete with the products of the Company. As some of our competitors have financial resources that are greater than Esports’, they may spend more money and time on developing and testing products, undertake more extensive marketing campaigns, adopt more aggressive pricing policies or otherwise develop more commercially successful products than the Company, which could impact the Company’s ability to win new marketing contracts and renew our existing ones. Furthermore, new competitors may enter the Company’s key market areas. If the Company is unable to obtain significant market presence or if it loses market share to its competitors, the Company’s results of operations and future prospects would be materially adversely affected. There are many companies with already established relationships with third parties, including gaming operators that are able to introduce directly competitive products and have the potential and resources to quickly develop competitive technologies. The Company’s success depends on its ability to develop new products and enhance existing products at prices and on terms that are attractive to its customers.
There has also been consolidation among the Company’s competitors in the esports and gaming industry Such consolidation could result in the formation of larger competitors with increased financial resources and altered cost structures, which may enable them to offer more competitive pricing models, gain a larger market share of customers, expand product offerings and broaden their geographic scope of operations.
Risks that impact our customers may impact us.
Because we generate website traffic through our affiliate marketing program, if participants in our affiliate marketing program see a slowdown in business or website traffic it may lead to fewer visitors on our website, which could have an adverse effect on our business.
11
Because three of our directors and a substantial portion of our assets are located in jurisdictions other than the United States and Canada, you may have no effective recourse against the directors not located in the United States and Canada for misconduct and may not be able to enforce judgment and civil liabilities against these directors.
Three of our directors and a substantial portion of our assets are or may be located in jurisdictions outside the U.S. As a result, a person may not be able to affect service of process within the U.S. on our directors and officers. A person also may not be able to recover against them on judgments of U.S. courts or to obtain original judgments against them in foreign courts, including judgments predicated upon civil liability provisions of the U.S. federal securities laws.
We operate in a very competitive business environment and if we do not adapt our approach and our products to meet this competitive environment, our business, results of operations or financial condition could be adversely impacted.
There is intense competition in the gaming management and gaming products industry which is characterized by dynamic customer demand and rapid technological advances. Today, there are many systems providers in the U.S. and abroad offering casinos and gaming operators “total solution” casino management and table games management systems. As a result, we must continually adapt our approach and our products to meet this demand and match technological advances and if we cannot do so, our business results of operations or financial condition may be adversely impacted. Conversely, the development of new competitive products or the enhancement of existing competitive products in any market in which we operate could have an adverse impact on our business, results of operations or financial condition. If we are unable to remain dynamic in the face of changes in the market, it could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations or financial condition.
We are vulnerable to additional or increased taxes and fees.
We believe that the prospect of raising significant additional revenue through taxes and fees is one of the primary reasons that certain jurisdictions permit legalized gaming. As a result, gaming companies are typically subject to significant taxes and fees in addition to the normal federal, state, provincial and local income taxes and such taxes and fees may be increased at any time. From time to time, legislators and officials have proposed changes in tax laws or in the administration of laws affecting the gaming industry. Many states and municipalities, including ones in which we operate, are currently experiencing budgetary pressures that may make it more likely they would seek to impose additional taxes and fees on our operations. It is not possible to determine the likelihood or extent of any such future changes in tax laws or fees, or changes in the administration of such laws; however, if enacted, such changes could have a material adverse impact on our business.
A lack of confidence in the integrity of our core businesses could affect our ability to retain our customers and engage with new customers.
The integrity of the gaming and pari-mutuel (bet exchange and pool style) wagering industries must be perceived as fair to patrons and the public at large. To prevent cheating or erroneous payouts, the necessary oversight processes must be in place to ensure that such activities cannot be manipulated. A loss of confidence in the fairness of our industries could have a material adverse impact on our business.
The legalization of online real money gaming in the United States and our ability to predict and capitalize on any such legalization may impact our business.
Nevada, Delaware, New Jersey and Pennsylvania have enacted legislation to legalize online real money gaming. In recent years, California, Mississippi, Hawaii, Massachusetts, Iowa, Illinois, New York, Washington D.C. and West Virginia have considered such legislation. If a large number of additional states or the Federal government enact online real money gaming legislation and we are unable to obtain the necessary licenses to operate online real money gaming websites in United States jurisdictions where such games are legalized, our future growth in real money gaming could be materially impaired.
States or the Federal government may legalize online real money gaming in a manner that is unfavorable to us. Several states and the Federal government are considering draft laws that require online casinos to also have a license to operate a brick-and mortar casino, either directly or indirectly through an affiliate. If, like Nevada and New Jersey, state jurisdictions enact legislation legalizing online real money casino gaming subject to this brick-and-mortar
12
requirement, we may be unable to offer online real money gaming in such jurisdictions if we are unable to establish an affiliation with a brick-and-mortar casino in such jurisdiction on acceptable terms.
In the online real money gaming industry, a significant “first mover” advantage exists. Our ability to compete effectively in respect of a particular style of online real money gaming in the United States may be premised on introducing a style of gaming before our competitors. Failing to do so (“move first”) could materially impair our ability to grow in the online real money gaming space. We may fail to accurately predict when online real money gaming will be legalized in significant jurisdictions. The legislative process in each state and at the Federal level is unique and capable of rapid, often unpredictable change. If we fail to accurately forecast when and how, if at all, online real money gaming will be legalized in additional state jurisdictions, such failure could impair our readiness to introduce online real money gaming offerings in such jurisdictions which could have a material adverse impact on our business.
Our business is subject to online security risk, including security breaches, and loss or misuse of our stored information as a result of such a breach, including customers’ personal information, could lead to government enforcement action or other litigation, potential liability, or otherwise harm our business.
We receive, process, store and use personal information and other customer data. There are numerous federal, state and local laws regarding privacy and the storing, sharing, use, processing, disclosure and protection of personal information and other data. Any failure or perceived failure by us to comply with our privacy policies, our privacy-related obligations to customers or other third parties, or our privacy-related legal obligations, or any compromise of security that results in the unauthorized release or transfer of personally identifiable information or other player data, may result in governmental enforcement actions, litigation or public statements against us by consumer advocacy groups or others and could cause our customers to lose trust in us which could have an adverse impact on our business. In the area of information security and data protection, many states have passed laws requiring notification to customers when there is a security breach for personal data, such as the 2002 amendment to California’s Information Practices Act, or requiring the adoption of minimum information security standards that are often vaguely defined and difficult to practically implement. The costs of compliance with these types of laws may increase in the future as a result of changes in interpretation or changes in law. Any failure on our part to comply with these types of laws may subject us to significant liabilities.
Third parties we work with, such as vendors, may violate applicable laws or our policies, and such violations may also put our customers’ information at risk and could in turn have an adverse impact on our business. We are also subject to payment card association rules and obligations under each association’s contracts with payment card processors. Under these rules and obligations, if information is compromised, we could be liable to payment card issuers for the associated expense and penalties. If we fail to follow payment card industry security standards, even if no customer information is compromised, we could incur significant fines or experience a significant increase in payment card transaction costs.
Security breaches, computer malware and computer hacking attacks have become more prevalent in our industry. Many companies, including ours, have been the targets of such attacks. Any security breach caused by hacking which involves efforts to gain unauthorized access to information or systems, or to cause intentional malfunctions or loss or corruption of data, software, hardware or other computer equipment, and the inadvertent transmission of computer viruses could harm our business. Though it is difficult to determine what harm may directly result from any specific interruption or breach, any failure to maintain performance, reliability, security and availability of our network infrastructure to the satisfaction of our players may harm our reputation and our ability to retain existing players and attract new players.
If unauthorized disclosure of the source code we currently license, and expect to own upon the completion of this offering occurs, we could potentially lose future trade secret protection for that source code. This could make it easier for third parties to compete with our products by copying functionality which could adversely affect our revenue and operating margins. Unauthorized disclosure of source code also could increase security risks.
Because the techniques used to obtain unauthorized access, disable or degrade service, or sabotage systems, change frequently and often are not recognized until launched against a target, we may be unable to anticipate these techniques or to implement adequate preventative measures. We have developed systems and processes that are designed to protect customer information and prevent data loss and other security breaches, including systems and processes designed to reduce the impact of a security breach at a third party vendor; however, such measures cannot provide absolute security.
13
We are subject to payment-related risks, such as risk associated with the fraudulent use of credit or debit cards which could have adverse effects on our business due to chargebacks from customers
We allow funding and payments to accounts using a variety of methods, including electronic funds transfer (“EFT”), and credit and debit cards. As we continue to introduce new funding or payment options to our players, we may be subject to additional regulatory and compliance requirements. We also may be subject to the risk of fraudulent use of credit or debit cards, or other funding and/or payment options. For certain funding or payment options, including credit and debit cards, we may pay interchange and other fees which may increase over time and, therefore, raise operating costs and reduce profitability. We rely on third parties to provide payment-processing services and it could disrupt our business if these companies become unwilling or unable to provide these services to us. We are also subject to rules and requirements governing EFT which could change or be reinterpreted to make it difficult or impossible for us to comply. If we fail to comply with these rules or requirements, we may be subject to fines and higher transaction fees or possibly lose our ability to accept credit or debit cards, or other forms of payment from customers which could have a material adverse impact on our business.
Chargebacks occur when customers seek to void credit card or other payment transactions. Cardholders are intended to be able to reverse card transactions only if there has been unauthorized use of the card or the services contracted for have not been provided. In our business, customers occasionally seek to reverse online gaming losses through chargebacks. We place great emphasis on control procedures to protect from chargebacks; however, these control procedures may not be sufficient to protect us from adverse effects on our business or results of operations.
Our profitability depends upon many factors for which no assurance can be given.
Profitability depends upon many factors, including the ability to develop and maintain valuable products and services, our ability to identify and obtain the rights to additional products to add to our existing product line, success and expansion of our sales programs, expansion of our customer base, obtaining the right balance of expense levels and the overall success of our business activities. We anticipate that we will generate operating income in the next 12 months although no assurance can be given in this regard. Even if we do achieve profitability, we may not be able to sustain or increase profitability on a quarterly or annual basis. Our failure to become and remain profitable would depress the value of our company and could impair our ability to raise capital, expand our business, diversify our product offerings or even continue our operations. A decline in the value of our stock could also cause you to lose all or part of your investment.
Future cash flows fluctuations may affect our ability to fund our working capital requirements or achieve our business objectives in a timely manner.
Our working capital requirements and cash flows are expected to be subject to quarterly and yearly fluctuations, depending on such factors as timing and size of capital expenditures, levels of sales and collection of receivables, customer payment terms and supplier terms and conditions. We expect the net proceeds from this offering will enable us to fund our operating expenses and capital expenditure requirements for at least the next 12 months However, a greater than expected slow-down in capital spending by our customers may require us to adjust our current business model. As a result, our revenues and cash flows may be materially lower than we expect and we may be required to reduce our capital expenditures and investments or take other measures in order to meet our cash requirements. We may seek additional funds from liquidity-generating transactions and other conventional sources of external financing (which may include a variety of debt, convertible debt and/or equity financings). We cannot provide any assurance that our net cash requirements will be as we currently expect. Our inability to manage cash flow fluctuations resulting from the above factors could have a material adverse effect on our ability to fund our working capital requirements from operating cash flows and other sources of liquidity or to achieve our business objectives in a timely manner.
Our business may be materially and adversely affected by increased levels of debt.
In order to finance our business or to finance possible acquisitions we may incur significant levels of debt compared to historical levels, and we may need to secure additional sources of funding, which may include debt or convertible debt financing, in the future. A high level of debt, arduous or restrictive terms and conditions relating to accessing
14
certain sources of funding, failure to meet the financial and/or other covenants in our credit and/or support facilities and any significant reduction in, or access to, such facilities, poor business performance or lower than expected cash
inflows could have adverse consequences on our ability to fund our business operations. Other effects of a high level of debt include the following:
• we may have difficulty borrowing money in the future or accessing sources of funding;
• we may need to use a large portion of our cash flows from operating activities to pay principal and interest on our indebtedness, which would reduce the amount of cash available to finance our operations and other business activities;
• a high debt level, arduous or restrictive terms and conditions, or lower than expected cash flows would make us more vulnerable to economic downturns and adverse developments in our business; and
• if operating cash flows are not sufficient to meet our operating expenses, capital expenditures and debt service requirements as they become due, we may be required, in order to meet our debt service obligations, to delay or reduce capital expenditures or the introduction of new products and services, sell assets and/or forego business opportunities including acquisitions, research and development projects or product design enhancements.
Esports’ online offerings are part of new and evolving industries, which presents significant uncertainty and business risks.
The online gaming and interactive entertainment industry, which includes social, casual and mobile gaming and interactive entertainment, is relatively new and continues to evolve. Whether these industries grow and whether Esports’ online business will ultimately succeed, will be affected by, among other things, developments in social networks, mobile platforms, legal and regulatory developments (such as the passage of new laws or regulations or the extension of existing laws or regulations to online gaming activities), taxation of gaming activities, data privacy laws and regulation and other factors that the Company is unable to predict and which are beyond the Company’s control. Given the dynamic evolution of these industries, it can be difficult to plan strategically, and it is possible that competitors will be more successful than the Company at adapting to change and pursuing business opportunities. Additionally, as the online gaming industry advances, including with respect to regulation, the Company may become subject to additional compliance-related costs. Consequently, the Company cannot provide assurance that the Company’s online and interactive offerings will grow at the rates expected or be successful in the long term.
Several companies have launched online social casino offerings, and new competitors are likely to continue to emerge, some of which may be operated by social gaming companies with a larger base of existing users, or by casino operators with more experience in operating a casino. If Esports’ products do not obtain popularity or maintain popularity or fail to grow in a manner that meets the Company’s expectations, Esports’ results of operations and financial condition could be harmed.
Esports’ success in the competitive gaming and interactive entertainment industries depends in large part on its ability to develop and manage frequent introductions of innovative products.
The online gaming and interactive entertainment industries are characterized by dynamic customer demand and technological advances, including for land-based and online gaming products. As a result, the Company must continually introduce and successfully market new themes and technologies in order to remain competitive and effectively stimulate customer demand. The process of developing new products and systems is inherently complex and uncertain. It requires accurate anticipation of changing customer needs and end user preferences as well as emerging technological trends. If the Company’s competitors develop new content and technologically innovative products, and Esports fails to keep pace, its business could be adversely affected. Additionally, the introduction of products embodying new technology and the emergence of new industry standards can render the Company’s existing solutions obsolete and unmarketable and can exert price pressures on existing solutions. To remain competitive, the Company must invest resources towards its research and development efforts to introduce new and innovative products with dynamic features to attract new customers and retain existing customers. If the Company fails to accurately anticipate customer needs and end-user preferences through the development of new products and technologies, it could lose business to its competitors, which would adversely affect the Company’s results of operations and financial position.
15
The Company intends to continue investing resources toward its research and development efforts. There is no assurance that its investments in research and development will lead to successful new technologies or timely new products. If a new product does not gain market acceptance, the Company’s business could be adversely affected. Most directly, if a product is unsuccessful, the Company could incur losses. Additionally, if the Company cannot efficiently adapt its processes and infrastructure to meet the needs of its product innovations, its business could be negatively impacted. There is no certainty that the Company’s new products will attain market acceptance or that its competitors will not more effectively anticipate or respond to changing customer preferences. In addition, any delays by the Company in introducing new products could negatively impact its operating results by providing an opportunity for its competitors to introduce new products and gain market share.
The Company cannot give assurance that it will successfully develop new products or enhance and improve its existing products, that new products and enhanced and improved existing products will achieve market acceptance or that the introduction of new products or enhanced existing products by others will not render the Company’s products obsolete. Dynamic customer demand and technological advances often demand high levels of research and development expenditures in order to meet accelerated product introductions, and the life cycles of certain products may be short, which could adversely affect the Company’s operating results. In some cases, the Company’s new products and solutions may require long development and testing periods and may not be introduced in a timely manner or may not achieve the broad market acceptance necessary to generate significant revenue. The Company’s inability to develop solutions that meet customer needs and compete successfully against competitors’ offerings could have a material adverse effect on the Company’s business, financial condition and results of operations.
Failure to attract, retain and motivate key employees may adversely affect the Company’s ability to compete and the loss of the services of key personnel could have a material adverse effect on Esports’ business.
The Company depends on the services of a few key executive officers. The loss of any of these key persons could have a material adverse effect on the Company’s business, results of operations and financial condition. The Company’s success is also highly dependent on its continuing ability to identify, hire, train, motivate and retain highly qualified technical, marketing and management personnel. Competition for such personnel can be intense, and the Company cannot provide assurance that it will be able to attract or retain highly qualified technical, marketing and management personnel in the future. Stock options may comprise a significant component of key employee compensation, and if the Company’s Common Share price declines, it may be difficult to retain such individuals. Similarly, changes in the Company’s share price may hinder the Company’s ability to recruit key employees, as they may elect to seek employment with other companies that they believe have better long-term prospects. The Company’s inability to attract and retain the necessary technical, marketing and management personnel may adversely affect its future growth and profitability. The Company’s retention and recruiting may require significant increases in compensation expense, which would adversely affect the Company’s results of operation.
The leadership of Esports’ Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Grant Johnson (“Mr. Johnson”), has been a critical element of the Company’s success. The departure, death or disability of Mr. Johnson or other extended or permanent loss of his services, or any negative market or industry perception with respect to him or arising from his loss, could have a material adverse effect on the Company’s business. Esports’ other executive officers and other members of senior management have substantial experience and expertise in Esports’ business and have made significant contributions to its growth and success. The unexpected loss of services of one or more of these individuals could also adversely affect the Company. Esports is not protected by key man or similar life insurance covering members of senior management but we expect to obtain key man insurance upon closing of the offering.
Our management team has limited experience managing a public company and regulatory compliance may divert our attention from the day-to-day management of its business.
Our management team has limited experience managing a publicly-traded company and limited experience complying with the increasingly complex laws pertaining to public companies. These obligations typically require substantial attention from our senior management and could divert our attention away from the day-to-day management of our business.
16
Our internal control over financial reporting does not currently meet the standards required by Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, and failure to achieve and maintain effective internal control over financial reporting in accordance with Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act could have a material adverse effect on our business and stock price.
We have not maintained internal control over financial reporting in a manner that meets the standards of publicly traded companies required by Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002. The rules governing the standards that must be met for our management to assess our internal control over financial reporting are complex and require significant documentation, testing and possible remediation. We expect to begin the process of reviewing, documenting and testing our internal control over financial reporting after completion of this offering. We might encounter problems or delays in completing the implementation of any changes necessary to make a favorable assessment of our internal control over financial reporting. If we cannot favorably assess the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting, investors could lose confidence in our financial information and the price of our common stock could decline.
The Company is a holding company with its only asset being direct and indirect ownership of its operating subsidiaries.
As a holding company, we do not have any material non-financial assets other than our direct and indirect ownership of our operating subsidiaries. We have no independent means of generating revenue. To the extent that we will need funds beyond our own financial resources to pay liabilities or to fund operations, we may have to borrow or otherwise raise funds sufficient to meet these obligations and operate our business and, thus, our liquidity and financial condition could be materially adversely affected.
We currently do not maintain insurance coverage, and any claims against us may result in our incurring substantial costs and a diversion of resources.
We do not currently hold directors and officers liability insurance, although we do expect to obtain coverage at the conclusion of this offering. We do not maintain key-man life insurance on any of our senior management or key personnel, business interruption insurance, employer’s liability insurance or liability insurance. If and when we do obtain insurance coverage, it may be insufficient to cover any claim. Any liability or damage to, or caused by, our facilities or our personnel beyond our insurance coverage may result in our incurring substantial costs and a diversion of resources.
The Company’s business is vulnerable to changing economic conditions and to other factors that adversely affect the industries in which it operates.
The demand for entertainment and leisure activities tends to be highly sensitive to changes in consumers’ disposable income, and thus can be affected by changes in the economy and consumer tastes, both of which are difficult to predict and beyond the control of the Company. Unfavorable changes in general economic conditions, including recessions, economic slowdown, sustained high levels of unemployment, and increasing fuel or transportation costs, may reduce customers’ disposable income or result in fewer individuals visiting casinos, whether land-based or online, or otherwise engaging in entertainment and leisure activities, including gambling. As a result, the Company cannot ensure that demand for its products or services will remain constant. Continued or renewed adverse developments affecting economies throughout the world, including a general tightening of availability of credit, decreased liquidity in many financial markets, increasing interest rates, increasing energy costs, acts of war or terrorism, transportation disruptions, natural disasters, declining consumer confidence, sustained high levels of unemployment or significant declines in stock markets, could lead to a further reduction in discretionary spending on leisure activities, such as gambling. Any significant or prolonged decrease in consumer spending on entertainment or leisure activities could reduce the Company’s online games, reducing the Company’s cash flows and revenues. If the Company experiences a significant unexpected decrease in demand for its products, it could incur losses.
Changes in ownership of competitors or consolidations within the gaming industry may negatively impact pricing and lead to downward pricing pressures which could reduce revenue.
A decline in demand for the Company’s products in the gaming industry could adversely affect its business. Demand for the Company’s products is driven primarily by the replacement of existing services as well as the expansion of
17
existing online gaming, and the expansion of new channels of distribution, such as mobile gaming. Additionally, consolidation within the online gambling market could result in the Company facing competition from larger combined entities, which may benefit from greater resources and economies of scale. Also, any fragmentation within the industry creating a number of smaller, independent operators with fewer resources could also adversely affect the Company’s business as these operators might cause a further slowdown in the replacement cycle for the Company’s products.
Litigation costs and the outcome of litigation could have a material adverse effect on the Company’s business.
From time to time, Esports may be subject to litigation claims through the ordinary course of its business operations regarding, but not limited to, employment matters, security of consumer and employee personal information, contractual relations with suppliers, marketing and infringement of trademarks and other intellectual property rights. Litigation to defend Esports against claims by third parties, or to enforce any rights that Esports may have against third parties, may be necessary, which could result in substantial costs and diversion of Esports’ resources, causing a material adverse effect on its business, financial condition and results of operations. Aside from the lawsuit referenced herein under the heading “Legal Proceedings”, the Company is not aware of any current material legal proceedings outstanding, threatened or pending as of the date hereof by or against the Company, given the nature of its business, it is, and may from time to time in the future be, party to various, and at times numerous, legal, administrative and regulatory inquiries, investigations, proceedings and claims that arise in the ordinary course of business. Because the outcome of litigation is inherently uncertain, if one or more of such legal matters were to be resolved against the Company for amounts in excess of management’s expectations, the Company’s results of operations and financial condition could be materially adversely affected.
The Company relies on its internal marketing and branding function, and intends to rely on relationship with ambassadors, distributors, service providers and channel partners to promote its products and generate revenue, and the failure to maintain and develop these relationships could adversely affect the business and financial condition of the Company.
The Company is dependent upon its internal marketing and branding function as well as its ability to establish and develop new relationships and to build relationships with distributors and service providers on which it will rely to promote its current and future products, including online gaming services and live events such as potentially creating and hosting live esports tournaments. The Company cannot provide assurance that it will be successful in maintaining or advancing such internal function or relationship. In addition, the Company cannot provide assurance that its future distributors and service providers will act in a manner that will promote the success of the Company’s products and services. Failure by its internal marketing and branding function or channel partners to promote and support the Company’s products and services or failure by the Company to establish and develop relationships with ambassadors, distributors and service providers, could adversely affect the Company’s business, results of operations and financial condition. Even if the Company is successful in maintaining or advancing such internal function or establishing and developing relationships with distributors or service providers, there is no guarantee that this will result in a growth in revenue.
Moreover, if some of the Company’s competitors offer their products and services to distributors on more favorable terms or have more products or services available to meet their needs, there may be pressure on the Company to reduce the price of its products or services, failing which the Company’s distributors and service providers may stop carrying its products or services or de-emphasize the sale of its products and services in favor of the products and services of competitors.
Risks Related to International Operations
The risks related to international operations, in particular in countries outside of the United States and Canada, could negatively affect the Company’s results.
All of the Company’s operations are conducted in foreign jurisdictions including, but not limited to: Curacao, Antigua and Barbuda and Malta. It is expected that the Company will derive more than 95% of its revenue from transactions denominated in currencies other than the United States and the Canadian dollar, and the Company expects that receivables with respect to foreign sales will continue to account for a significant majority of its total accounts and receivables outstanding. As such, the Company’s operations may be adversely affected by changes in foreign government policies and legislation or social instability and other factors which are not within the control of the
18
Company, including, but not limited to, recessions in foreign economies, expropriation, nationalization and limitation or restriction on repatriation of funds, assets or earnings, longer receivables collection periods and greater difficulty in collecting accounts receivable, changes in consumer tastes and trends, renegotiation or nullification of existing contracts or licenses, changes in gaming policies, regulatory requirements or the personnel administering them, currency fluctuations and devaluations, exchange controls, economic sanctions and royalty and tax increases, risk of terrorist activities, revolution, border disputes, implementation of tariffs and other trade barriers and protectionist practices, taxation policies, including royalty and tax increases and retroactive tax claims, volatility of financial markets and fluctuations in foreign exchange rates, difficulties in the protection of intellectual property particularly in countries with fewer intellectual property protections, the effects that evolving regulations regarding data privacy may have on the Company’s online operations, adverse changes in the creditworthiness of parties with whom the Company has significant receivables or forward currency exchange contracts, labour disputes and other risks arising out of foreign governmental sovereignty over the areas in which the Company’s operations are conducted. The Company’s operations may also be adversely affected by social, political and economic instability and by laws and policies of such foreign jurisdictions affecting foreign trade, taxation and investment. If the Company’s operations are disrupted and/or the economic integrity of its contracts is threatened for unexpected reasons, its business may be harmed.
The Company’s international activities may require protracted negotiations with host governments, national companies and third parties. Foreign government regulations may favor or require the awarding of contracts to local contractors or require foreign contractors to employ citizens of, or purchase supplies from, a particular jurisdiction. In the event of a dispute arising in connection with the Company’s operations in a foreign jurisdiction where it conducts its business, the Company may be subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of foreign courts or may not be successful in subjecting foreign persons to the jurisdictions of the courts of United States or Canada or enforcing American and Canadian judgments in such other jurisdictions. The Company may also be hindered or prevented from enforcing its rights with respect to a governmental instrumentality because of the doctrine of sovereign immunity. Accordingly, the Company’s activities in foreign jurisdictions could be substantially affected by factors beyond the Company’s control, any of which could have a material adverse effect on it. The Company believes that management’s experience to date in commercializing its products and solutions in Europe and the Caribbean may be of assistance in helping to reduce these risks. Some countries in which the Company may operate may be considered politically and economically unstable.
Doing business in the industries in which the Company operates often requires compliance with numerous and extensive procedures and formalities. These procedures and formalities may result in unexpected or lengthy delays in commencing important business activities. In some cases, failure to follow such formalities or obtain relevant evidence may call into question the validity of the entity or the actions taken. Management of the Company is unable to predict the effect of additional corporate and regulatory formalities which may be adopted in the future including whether any such laws or regulations would materially increase Esports’ cost of doing business or affect its operations in any area.
Esports may in the future enter into agreements and conduct activities outside of the jurisdictions where it currently carries on business, which expansion may present challenges and risks that Esport has not faced in the past, any of which could adversely affect the results of operations and/or financial condition of Esports.
The Company is subject to foreign exchange and currency risks that could adversely affect its operations, and the Company’s ability to mitigate its foreign exchange risk through hedging transactions may be limited.
The Company expects that it will derive in excess of 95% of its revenues in currencies other than the United States and Canadian dollar; however, a substantial portion of the Company’s operating expenses are incurred in United States dollars. Fluctuations in the exchange rate between the U.S. dollar, the Euro and other currencies may have a material adverse effect on the Company’s business, financial condition and operating results. The Company’s consolidated financial results are affected by foreign currency exchange rate fluctuations. Foreign currency exchange rate exposures arise from current transactions and anticipated transactions denominated in currencies other than United States and Canadian dollars and from the translation of foreign-currency-denominated balance sheet accounts into United States and Canadian dollar-denominated balance sheet accounts. The Company is exposed to currency exchange rate fluctuations because portions of its revenue and expenses are denominated in currencies other than the United States and Canadian dollar, particularly the Euro. In particular, uncertainty regarding economic conditions in Europe and the debt crisis affecting certain countries in the European Union pose risk to the stability of the Euro. Exchange rate fluctuations could adversely affect the Company’s operating results and cash flows and the value of its assets outside of United States and Canada. If a foreign currency is devalued in a jurisdiction in which the Company is paid in such
19
currency, then the Company’s customers may be required to pay higher amounts for the Company’s products, which they may be unable or unwilling to pay.
While the Company may enter into forward currency swaps and other derivative instruments intended to mitigate the foreign currency exchange risk, there can be no assurance the Company will do so or that any instruments that the Company enters into will successfully mitigate such risk. If the Company enters into foreign currency forward or other hedging contracts, the Company would be subject to the risk that a counterparty to one or more of these contracts defaults on its performance under the contracts. During an economic downturn, a counterparty’s financial condition may deteriorate rapidly and with little notice, and the Company may be unable to take action to protect its exposure. In the event of a counterparty default, the Company could lose the benefit of its hedging contract, which may harm its business and financial condition. In the event that one or more of the Company’s counterparties becomes insolvent or files for bankruptcy, its ability to eventually recover any benefit lost as a result of that counterparty’s default may be limited by the liquidity of the counterparty. The Company expects that it will not be able to hedge all of its exposure to any particular foreign currency, and it may not hedge its exposure at all with respect to certain foreign currencies. Changes in exchange rates and the Company’s limited ability or inability to successfully hedge exchange rate risk could have an adverse impact on the Company’s liquidity and results of operations.
The gaming industry is highly regulated and we must adhere to various regulations and maintain applicable licenses to continue our operations. Failure to abide by regulations or maintain applicable licenses could be disruptive to our business and could adversely affect our operations.
We and our products are subject to extensive regulation under federal, state, local and foreign laws, rules and regulations of the jurisdictions in which we do business and our products are used. We currently block direct access to wagering on our website from the United States and other jurisdictions in which we do not have license to operate through IP address filtering. Individuals are required to enter their age upon gaining access to our platform and any misrepresentation of such users age will result in the forfeiting of his or her deposit and any withdrawals from such users account requires proof of government issued identification. In addition, our payment service providers use their own identify and ISP verification software. Despite all such measures, it is conceivable that that a user, under age, or otherwise could devise a way to evade our blocking measures and access our website from the United States or any other foreign jurisdiction in which we are not currently permitted to operate.
Violations of laws in one jurisdiction could result in disciplinary action in other jurisdictions. Licenses, approvals or findings of suitability may be revoked, suspended or conditioned. In sum, we may not be able to obtain or maintain all necessary registrations, licenses, permits or approvals. The licensing process may result in delays or adversely affect our operations and our ability to maintain key personnel, and our efforts to comply with any new licensing regulations will increase our costs.
We may be unable to obtain licenses in new jurisdictions where our customers operate.
We are subject to regulation in any jurisdiction where our customers access our website. To expand into any such jurisdiction we may need to be licensed, or obtain approvals of our products or services. If we do not receive, or receive a revocation of a license in a particular jurisdiction for our products, we would not be able to sell or place our products in that jurisdiction. Any such outcome could materially and adversely affect our results of operations and any growth plans for our business.
Privacy concerns could result in regulatory changes and impose additional costs and liabilities on the Company, limit its use of information, and adversely affect its business.
Personal privacy has become a significant issue in Canada, the United States, Europe, and many other countries in which the Company currently operates and may operate in the future. Many federal, state, and foreign legislatures and government agencies have imposed or are considering imposing restrictions and requirements about the collection, use, and disclosure of personal information obtained from individuals. Changes to laws or regulations affecting privacy could impose additional costs and liability on the Company and could limit its use of such information to add value for customers. If the Company were required to change its business activities or revise or eliminate services, or to implement burdensome compliance measures, its business and results of operations could be harmed. In addition, the Company may be subject to fines, penalties, and potential litigation if it fails to comply with applicable privacy regulations, any of which could adversely affect the Company’s business, liquidity and results of operation.
20
The Company’s results of operations could be affected by natural events in the locations in which it operates or where its customers or suppliers operate.
Esports, its customers, and its suppliers have operations in locations subject to natural occurrences such as severe weather and other geological events, including hurricanes, earthquakes, or flood that could disrupt operations. Any serious disruption at any of Esports’ facilities or the facilities of its customers or suppliers due to a natural disaster could have a material adverse effect on Esports’ revenues and increase its costs and expenses. If there is a natural disaster or other serious disruption at any of Esports’ facilities, it could impair its ability to adequately supply its customers, cause a significant disruption to its operations, cause Esports to incur significant costs to relocate or re-establish these functions and negatively impact its operating results. While Esports intends to seek insurance against certain business interruption risks, such insurance may not adequately compensate Esports for any losses incurred as a result of natural or other disasters. In addition, any natural disaster that results in a prolonged disruption to the operations of Esports’ customers or suppliers may adversely affect its business, results of operations or financial condition.
Risks Related to Regulation
The Company is subject to various laws relating to trade, export controls, and foreign corrupt practices, the violation of which could adversely affect its operations, reputation, business, prospects, operating results and financial condition.
We are subject to risks associated with doing business outside of the United States, including exposure to complex foreign and U.S. regulations such as the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (the “FCPA”) and other anti-corruption laws which generally prohibit U.S. companies and their intermediaries from making improper payments to foreign officials for the purpose of obtaining or retaining business. Violations of the FCPA and other anti-corruption laws may result in severe criminal and civil sanctions and other penalties. It may be difficult to oversee the conduct of any contractors, third-party partners, representatives or agents who are not our employees, potentially exposing us to greater risk from their actions. If our employees or agents fail to comply with applicable laws or company policies governing our international operations, we may face legal proceedings and actions which could result in civil penalties, administration actions and criminal sanctions. Any determination that we have violated any anti-corruption laws could have a material adverse impact on our business. Changes in trade sanctions laws may restrict the Company’s business practices, including cessation of business activities in sanctioned countries or with sanctioned entities.
Violations of these laws and regulations could result in significant fines, criminal sanctions against Esports, its officers or its employees, requirements to obtain export licenses, disgorgement of profits, cessation of business activities in sanctioned countries, prohibitions on the conduct of its business and its inability to market and sell the Company’s products in one or more countries. Additionally, any such violations could materially damage the Company’s reputation, brand, international expansion efforts, ability to attract and retain employees and the Company’s business, prospects, operating results and financial condition.
We also deal with significant amounts of cash in our operations and are subject to various reporting and anti-money laundering regulations. Any violation of anti-money laundering laws or regulations by any of our properties could have a material adverse impact on our business.
The gaming industry is heavily regulated and failure by the Company to comply with applicable requirements could be disruptive to its business and could adversely affect its operations.
The gaming industry is subject to extensive scrutiny and regulation at all levels of government, both domestic and foreign, including but not limited to, federal, state, provincial, local, and in some instances, tribal authorities. While the regulatory requirements vary by jurisdiction, most require:
• licenses and/or permits;
• findings of suitability;
• documentation of qualifications, including evidence of financial stability; and
• other required approvals for companies who operate in online gaming or manufacture or distribute gaming equipment and services, including but not limited to approvals for new products.
21
Any license, permit, approval or finding of suitability may be revoked, suspended or conditioned at any time. The loss of a license in one jurisdiction could trigger the loss of a license or affect the Company’s eligibility for a license in another jurisdiction. The Company may be unable to obtain or maintain all necessary registrations, licenses, permits or approvals, and could incur fines or experience delays related to the licensing process which could adversely affect its operations. The finding of suitability process may be expensive and time-consuming. The Company’s delay or failure to obtain licenses and approvals in any jurisdiction may prevent it from distributing its solutions and generating revenues. A gaming regulatory body may refuse to issue or renew a registration if the Company, or one of its directors, officers, employees or associates: (i) is considered to be a detriment to the integrity or lawful conduct or management of gaming, (ii) no longer meets a registration requirement, (iii) has breached or is in breach of a condition of registration or an operational agreement with a regulatory authority, (iv) has made a material misrepresentation, omission or misstatement in an application for registration or in reply to an enquiry by a person conducting an audit, investigation or inspection for a gaming regulatory authority, (v) has been refused a similar registration in another jurisdiction, (vi) has held a similar registration, or license in that province, state or another jurisdiction which has been suspended, revoked or cancelled, or (vii) has been convicted of an offence, inside or outside of the United States that calls into question the Company’s honesty or integrity or the honesty or integrity of one of its directors, officers, employees or associates.
Additionally, the Company’s services must be approved in some jurisdictions in which they are offered; this process cannot be assured or guaranteed. Obtaining these approvals is a time-consuming process that can be extremely costly. A provider of gaming solutions may pursue corporate regulatory approval with regulators of a particular jurisdiction while it pursues technical regulatory approval for its gaming solutions by that same jurisdiction. It is possible that after incurring significant expenses and dedicating substantial time and effort towards such regulatory approvals, that Esports may not obtain either of them. If the Company fails to obtain the necessary certification, registration, license, approval or finding of suitability in a given jurisdiction, it would likely be prohibited from distributing its services in that particular jurisdiction altogether. If the Company fails to seek, does not receive, or receives a revocation of a license in a particular jurisdiction for its games, hardware or software, then it cannot sell, service or place on a participation or leased basis or license its products in that jurisdiction and its issued licenses in other jurisdictions may be impacted. Furthermore, some jurisdictions require license holders to obtain government approval before engaging in some transactions, such as business combinations, reorganizations, stock offerings and repurchases. The Company may not be able to obtain all necessary registrations, licenses, permits, approvals or findings of suitability in a timely manner, or at all. Delays in regulatory approvals or failure to obtain such approvals may also serve as a barrier to entry to the market for the Company’s solutions. If the Company is unable to overcome the barriers to entry, it will materially affect its results of operations and future prospects. To the extent new gaming jurisdictions are established or expanded, the Company cannot guarantee it will be successful in penetrating such new jurisdictions or expanding its business in line with the growth of existing jurisdictions. As the Company enters into new markets, it may encounter legal and regulatory challenges that are difficult or impossible to foresee and which could result in an unforeseen adverse impact on planned revenues or costs associated with the new market opportunity. If the Company is unable to effectively develop and operate within these new markets, then its business, operating results and financial condition could be impaired. The Company’s failure to obtain the necessary regulatory approvals in jurisdictions, whether individually or collectively, would have a material adverse effect on its business.
To expand into new jurisdictions, the Company may need to be licensed, obtain approvals of its products and/or seek licensure of its officers, directors, major shareholders, key employees or business partners. Any delays in obtaining or difficulty in maintaining regulatory approvals needed for expansion within existing markets or into new jurisdictions can negatively affect the Company’s opportunities for growth or delay its ability to recognize revenue from the sale or installation of products in any such jurisdictions.
The Company is subject to regulation affecting internet gaming which varies from one jurisdiction to another and future legislative and court proceedings pertaining to internet gaming may have a material impact on the operations and financial results of Esports.
The Company and its licensees are subject to applicable laws in the jurisdictions in which they operate. Some countries have introduced regulations attempting to restrict or prohibit internet gaming, while others have taken the position that internet gaming should be regulated and have adopted or are in the process of considering legislation to enable that regulation.
22
While the U.K. and other European countries and territories such as Malta, Alderney and Gibraltar have currently adopted a regime which permits its licensees to accept wagers from any jurisdiction, other countries, including the United States have, or are in the process of implementing, regimes which permit only the targeting of the domestic market provided a local license is obtained and local taxes accounted for. Other European countries and territories continue to defend a licensing regime that protects monopoly providers and have combined this with an attempt to outlaw all other supplies.
Future legislative and court decisions may have a material impact on the operations and financial results. Therefore, there is a risk that civil and criminal proceedings, including class actions brought by or on behalf of prosecutors or public entities incumbent monopoly providers, or private individuals, could be initiated against the Company, internet service providers, credit card processors, advertisers and others involved in the internet gaming industry. Such potential proceedings could involve substantial litigation expense, penalties, fines, seizure of assets, injunctions or other restrictions being imposed upon the Company or its licensees or other business partners, while diverting the attention of key executives. Such proceedings could have a material adverse effect on the Company’s business, revenues, operating results and financial condition as well as impact upon the Company’s reputation.
There can be no assurance that legally enforceable prohibiting legislation will not be proposed and passed in jurisdictions relevant or potentially relevant to the Company’s business to legislate or regulate various aspects of the internet or the online gaming industry (or that existing laws in those jurisdictions will not be interpreted negatively). Compliance with any such legislation may have a material adverse effect on the Company’s business, financial condition and results of operations, either as a result of the Company’s determining that a jurisdiction should be blocked, or because a local license may be costly for the Company or its licensees to obtain and/or such licenses may contain other commercially undesirable conditions. No copyrights have been filed on the source code to date.
The Company may not be able to capitalize on the expansion of online or other forms of interactive gaming or other trends and changes in the gaming industry, including due to laws and regulations governing these industries.
The Company participates in the new and evolving interactive gaming industry through its online, social and mobile products. The Company intends to take advantage of the liberalization of online and mobile gaming, within Canada, the U.S. and internationally; however, expansion of online and mobile gaming involves significant risks and uncertainties, including legal, business and financial risks. The success of online and mobile gaming and the Company’s interactive products and services may be affected by future developments in social networks, including Facebook, mobile platforms, regulatory developments, data privacy laws and other factors that the Company is unable to predict and are beyond its control. Consequently, the Company’s future operating results relating to its online gaming products and services are difficult to predict, and Esports cannot provide assurance that its products and services will grow at expected rates or be successful in the long term.
Additionally, the Company’s ability to successfully pursue its interactive gaming strategy depends on the laws and regulations relating to wagering through interactive channels. Internationally, laws relating to online gaming are evolving, particularly in Europe. To varying degrees, a number of European governments have taken steps to change the regulation of online wagering through the implementation of new or revised licensing and taxation regimes, including the possible imposition of sanctions on unlicensed providers. The Company cannot predict the timing, scope or terms of any such state, federal or foreign laws and regulations, or the extent to which any such laws and regulations will facilitate or hinder its interactive strategy.
The Company’s ability to operate in its proposed land-based or online jurisdictions or expand in new land-based or online jurisdictions could be adversely affected by new or changing laws or regulations, new interpretations of existing laws or regulations, and difficulties or delays in obtaining or maintaining required licenses or product approvals.
Changes in existing gaming laws or regulations, new interpretations of existing gaming laws or regulations or changes in the manner in which existing laws and regulations are enforced, all with respect to land-based and online gaming activities, may hinder or prevent the Company from continuing to operate in those jurisdictions where it currently carries on business, which would harm its operating results and financial condition. Furthermore, gaming regulatory bodies may from time to time amend the various disclosures and reporting requirements. If the Company fails to comply with any existing or future disclosure or reporting requirements, the regulators may take action against the Company which could ultimately include fines, the conditioning, suspension or revocation of approvals, registrations, permits or licenses and other disciplinary action. It cannot be assured that the Company will be able to adequately
23
adjust to such potential changes. Additionally, evolving laws and regulations regarding data privacy, cyber security and anti-money laundering could adversely impact opportunities for growth in Esports’ online business, and could result in additional compliance-related costs.
Public opinion can also exert a significant influence over the regulation of the gaming industry. A negative shift in the public’s perception of gaming could affect future legislation in different jurisdictions. Among other things, such a shift could cause jurisdictions to abandon proposals to legalize gaming, thereby limiting the number of new jurisdictions into which the Company could expand. Negative public perception could also lead to new restrictions on or to the prohibition of gaming in jurisdictions in which the Company currently operates.
Regulations that may be adopted with respect to the internet and electronic commerce may decrease the growth in the use of the internet and lead to the decrease in the demand for Esports’ products and services.
In addition to regulations pertaining to the gaming industry in general and specifically to online gaming, the Company may become subject to any number of laws and regulations that may be adopted with respect to the internet and electronic commerce. New laws and regulations that address issues such as user privacy, pricing, online content regulation, taxation, advertising, intellectual property, information security, and the characteristics and quality of online products and services may be enacted. As well, current laws, which predate or are incompatible with the internet and electronic commerce, may be applied and enforced in a manner that restricts the electronic commerce market. The application of such pre-existing laws regulating communications or commerce in the context of the internet and electronic commerce is uncertain. Moreover, it may take years to determine the extent to which existing laws relating to issues such as intellectual property ownership and infringement, libel and personal privacy are applicable to the internet. The adoption of new laws or regulations relating to the internet, or particular applications or interpretations of existing laws, could decrease the growth in the use of the internet, decrease the demand for Esports’ products and services, increase Esports’ cost of doing business or could otherwise have a material adverse effect on Esports’ business, revenues, operating results and financial condition.
Esports shareholders are subject to extensive governmental regulation and if a shareholder is found unsuitable by a gaming authority, that shareholder would not be able to beneficially own the Company’s Common Shares directly or indirectly.
In many jurisdictions, gaming laws can require any of the Company’s shareholders to file an application, be investigated, and qualify or have his, her or its suitability determined by gaming authorities. Gaming authorities have very broad discretion in determining whether an applicant should be deemed suitable. Subject to certain administrative proceeding requirements, the gaming regulators have the authority to deny any application or limit, condition, restrict, revoke or suspend any license, registration, finding of suitability or approval, or fine any person licensed, registered or found suitable or approved, for any cause deemed reasonable by the gaming authorities.
Furthermore, any person required by a gaming authority to be found suitable, who is found unsuitable by the gaming authority, may not hold directly or indirectly ownership of any voting security or the beneficial or record ownership of any non-voting security or any debt security of any public corporation which is registered with the relevant gaming authority beyond the time prescribed by the relevant gaming authority. A violation of the foregoing may constitute a criminal offence. A finding of unsuitability by a particular gaming authority impacts that person’s ability to associate or affiliate with gaming licensees in that particular jurisdiction and could impact the person’s ability to associate or affiliate with gaming licensees in other jurisdictions.
Many jurisdictions also require any person who acquires beneficial ownership of more than a certain percentage of voting securities of a gaming company and, in some jurisdictions, non-voting securities, typically 5%, to report the acquisition to gaming authorities, and gaming authorities may require such holders to apply for qualification or a finding of suitability, subject to limited exceptions for “institutional investors” that hold a company’s voting securities for investment purposes only.
Current environmental laws and regulations, or those enacted in the future, could result in additional liabilities and costs. Compliance with these laws could increase Esports’ costs and impact the availability of components required to manufacture its products. Violation of these laws may subject Esports to significant fines, penalties or disposal costs, which could negatively impact its results of operations, financial position or cash flows.
24
Legislative and regulatory changes could negatively affect our business and the business of our customers.
Legislative and regulatory changes may affect demand for or place limitations on the placement of our products. Such changes could affect us in a variety of ways. Legislation or regulation may introduce limitations on our products or opportunities for the use of our products and could foster competitive products or solutions at our or our customers’ expense. Our business will likely also suffer if our products became obsolete due to changes in laws or the regulatory framework.
Legislative or regulatory changes negatively impacting the gaming industry as a whole or our customers in particular could also decrease the demand for our products. Opposition to gaming could result in restrictions or even prohibitions of gaming operations in any jurisdiction or could result in increased taxes on gaming revenues. Tax matters, including changes in state, federal or other tax legislation or assessments by tax authorities could have a negative impact on our business. A reduction in growth of the gaming industry or in the number of gaming jurisdictions or delays in the opening of new or expanded casinos could reduce demand for our products. Changes in current or future laws or regulations or future judicial intervention in any particular jurisdiction may have a material adverse effect on our existing and proposed foreign and domestic operations. Any such adverse change in the legislative or regulatory environment could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations or financial condition.
Risks Related to Intellectual Property and Technology
Esports’ intellectual property may be insufficient to properly safeguard its technology and brands.
The Company may apply for patent protection in the United States, Canada, Europe and other countries relating to certain existing and proposed processes, designs and methods and other product innovations. Patent applications can, however, take many years to issue and the Company can provide no assurance that any of these patents will be issued at all. If the Company is denied any or all of these patents, it may not be able to successfully prevent its competitors from imitating its solutions or using some or all of the processes that are the subject of such patent applications. Such imitation may lead to increased competition within the finite market for the Company’s solutions. Even if pending patents are issued to the Company, its intellectual property rights may not be sufficiently comprehensive to prevent its competitors from developing similar competitive products and technologies. The Company’s success may also depend on its ability to obtain trademark protection for the names or symbols under which it markets its products and to obtain copyright protection and patent protection of its proprietary technologies, intellectual property and other game innovations and if the granted patents are challenged, protection may be lost. The Company may not be able to build and maintain goodwill in its trademarks or obtain trademark or patent protection, and there can be no assurance that any trademark, copyright or issued patent will provide competitive advantages for Esports or that Esports’ intellectual property will not be successfully challenged or circumvented by competitors.
Computer source codes for technology Esports licenses and expects to own upon completion of this offering, may also receive protection under international copyright laws. As such, EEG, or the party which it licenses the source code from, may need to initiate legal proceedings following such use to obtain orders to prevent further use of the source code.
The Company will also rely on trade secrets, ideas and proprietary know-how. Although the Company generally requires its employees and independent contractors to enter into confidentiality and intellectual property assignment agreements, it cannot be assured that the obligations therein will be maintained and honoured. If these agreements are breached, it is unlikely that the remedies available to the Company will be sufficient to compensate it for the damages suffered. In spite of confidentiality agreements and other methods of protecting trade secrets, the Company’s proprietary information could become known to or independently developed by competitors. If the Company fails to adequately protect its intellectual property and confidential information, its business may be harmed, and its liquidity and results of operations may be materially adversely impacted.
The Company may be subject to claims of intellectual property infringement or invalidity and adverse outcomes of litigation could unfavorably affect its operating results.
Monitoring infringement and misappropriation of intellectual property can be difficult and expensive, and the Company may not be able to detect infringement or misappropriation of its proprietary rights. Although the Company intends to aggressively pursue anyone who is reasonably believed to be infringing upon its intellectual property rights and who poses a significant commercial risk to the business, to protect and enforce its intellectual property rights,
25
initiating and maintaining suits against such third parties will require substantial financial resources. The Company may not have the financial resources to bring such suits, and, if it does bring such suits, it may not prevail. Regardless of the Company’s success in any such actions, the expenses and management distraction involved may have a material adverse effect on its financial position.
A significant portion of the Company’s revenues may be generated from products using certain intellectual property rights, and EEG’s operating results would be negatively impacted if it was unsuccessful in licensing certain of those rights and/or protecting those rights from infringement, including losses of proprietary information from breaches of the Company’s cyber security efforts.
Further, the Company’s competitors have been granted patents protecting various gaming products and solutions features, including systems, methods and designs. If the Company’s products and solutions employ these processes, or other subject matter that is claimed under its competitors’ patents, or if other companies obtain patents claiming subject matter that the Company uses, those companies may bring infringement actions against it. The question of whether a product infringes a patent involves complex legal and factual issues, the determination of which is often uncertain. In addition, because patent applications can take many years to issue, there may be applications now pending of which the Company is unaware, which might later result in issued patents that the Company’s products and solutions may infringe. There can be no assurance that the Company’s products, including those with currently pending patent applications, will not be determined to have infringed upon an existing third-party patent. If any of the Company’s products and solutions infringes a valid patent, the Company may be required to discontinue offering certain products or systems, pay damages, purchase a license to use the intellectual property in question from its owner, or redesign the product in question to avoid infringement. A license may not be available or may require EEG to pay substantial royalties, which could in turn force EEG to attempt to redesign the infringing product or to develop alternative technologies at a considerable expense. Additionally, the Company may not be successful in any attempt to redesign the infringing product or to develop alternative technologies, which could force the Company to withdraw its product or services from the market.
The Company may also infringe other intellectual property rights belonging to third parties, such as trademarks, copyrights and confidential information. As with patent litigation, the infringement of trademarks, copyrights and confidential information involve complex legal and factual issues and the Company’s products, branding or associated marketing materials may be found to have infringed existing third-party rights. When any third-party infringement occurs, the Company may be required to stop using the infringing intellectual property rights, pay damages and, if it wishes to keep using the third party intellectual property, purchase a license or otherwise redesign the product, branding or associated marketing materials to avoid further infringement. Such a license may not be available or may require EEG to pay substantial royalties.
It is also possible that the validity of any of EEG’s intellectual property rights might be challenged either in standalone proceedings or as part of infringement claims in the future. There can be no assurance that EEG’s intellectual property rights will withstand an invalidity claim and, if declared invalid, the protection afforded to the product, branding or marketing material will be lost.
Moreover, the future interpretation of intellectual property law regarding the validity of intellectual property by governmental agencies or courts in the United States, Canada, Europe or other jurisdictions in which EEG has rights could negatively affect the validity or enforceability of the Company’s current or future intellectual property. This could have multiple negative impacts including, without limitation, the marketability of, or anticipated revenue from, certain of EEG’s products. Additionally, due to the differences in foreign patent, trademark, copyright and other laws concerning proprietary rights, the Company’s intellectual property may not receive the same degree of protection in foreign countries as it would in the United States, Canada, or Europe. The Company’s failure to possess, obtain or maintain adequate protection of its intellectual property rights for any reason in these jurisdictions could have a material adverse effect on its business, results of operations and financial condition.
Furthermore, infringement and other intellectual property claims, with or without merit, can be expensive and time-consuming to litigate, and the Company may not have the financial and human resources to defend itself against any infringement suits that may be brought against EEG. Litigation can also distract management from day-to-day operations of the business.
In addition, the Company’s business is dependent in part on the intellectual property of third-parties. For example, the Company licenses intellectual property from third parties for use in its gaming products. The future success of the
26
Company may depend upon its ability to obtain licenses to use new and existing intellectual property and its ability to retain or expand existing licenses for certain products. If the Company is unable to obtain new licenses or renew or expand existing licenses, it may be required to discontinue or limit its use of such products that use the licensed marks and its financial condition, operating results or prospects may be harmed.
The failure to enforce and maintain our intellectual property rights could enable others to use trademarks used by our business which could adversely affect the value of the Company.
The success of our business depends on our continued ability to use our existing tradenames in order to increase our brand awareness. As of the date hereof, we do not have any federally registered trademarks owned by us, but we plan to pursue registered trademarks for our Vie.gg and Esports Entertainment Group. The unauthorized use or other misappropriation of any of the foregoing trademarks or tradenames could diminish the value of our business which would have a material adverse effect on our financial condition and results of operation.
Compromises of the Company’s systems or unauthorized access to confidential information or EEG’s customers’ personal information could materially harm EEG’s reputation and business.
EEG collects and stores confidential, personal information relating to its customers for various business purposes, including marketing and financial purposes, and credit card information for processing payments. For example, the Company handles, collects and stores personal information in connection with its online gaming products. The Company may share this personal and confidential information with vendors or other third parties in connection with processing of transactions, operating certain aspects of EEG’s business or for marketing purposes. The Company’s collection and use of personal data is governed by federal, state and provincial laws and regulations as well as the applicable laws and regulations in other countries in which it operates. Privacy law is an area that changes often and varies significantly by jurisdiction. EEG may incur significant costs in order to ensure compliance with the various privacy requirements. In addition, privacy laws and regulations may limit EEG’s ability to market to its customers.
EEG intends to assess and monitor the security of collection, storage and transmission of customer information on an ongoing basis. EEG intends to utilize commercially available software and technologies to monitor, assess and secure its network. However, the systems currently intended for transmissions and approval of payment card transactions, and the technology utilized in payment cards themselves, all of which can put payment card data at risk, are determined and controlled by the payment card industry, not EEG. Although EEG intends to take steps designed to safeguard its customers’ confidential personal information, its network and other systems and those of third parties, such as service providers, could be compromised by a third-party breach of EEG’s system’s security or that of a third-party provider or as a result of purposeful or accidental actions of third parties, EEG’s employees or those employees of a third party. Advances in computer and software capabilities and encryption technology, new tools and other developments may increase the risk of such a breach. As a result of any security breach, customer information or other proprietary data may be accessed or transmitted by or to a third party. Despite these measures, there can be no assurance that EEG is adequately protecting its customers’ information.
Any loss, disclosure or misappropriation of, or access to, customers’ or other proprietary information or other breach of EEG’s information security could result in legal claims or legal proceedings, including regulatory investigations and actions, or liability for failure to comply with privacy and information security laws, including for failure to protect personal information or for misusing personal information, which could disrupt EEG’s operations, damage its reputation and expose it to claims from its customers, financial institutions, regulators, payment card associations, employees and other persons, any of which could have a material adverse effect on EEG’s business, revenues, financial conditions and operations.
Service interruptions of internet service providers could impair the Company’s ability to carry on its business.
Most of the Company’s customers will rely on internet service providers to allow the Company’s customers and servers to communicate with each other. If internet service providers experience service interruptions, communications over the internet may be interrupted and impair the Company’s ability to carry on business. In addition, the Company’s ability to process e-commerce transactions depends on bank processing and credit card systems. In order to prepare for system problems, the Company intends to continuously seek to strengthen and enhance its planned facilities and the capability of its system infrastructure and support. Nevertheless, any system failure as a result of reliance on third parties, including network, software or hardware failure, which causes a delay or interruption in the Company’s online
27
services and products and e-commerce services, could have a material adverse effect on the Company’s business, revenues, operating results and financial condition.
There is a risk that the Company’s network systems will be unable to meet the growing demand for its online products.
The growth of internet usage has caused frequent interruptions and delays in processing and transmitting data over the internet. There can be no assurance that the internet infrastructure or the Company’s own network systems will be able to meet the demand placed on it by the continued growth of the internet, the overall online gaming and interactive entertainment industry and the Company’s customers.
The internet’s viability as a medium for products and services offered by the Company could be affected if the necessary infrastructure is not sufficient, or if other technologies and technological devices eclipse the internet as a viable channel.
End-users of the Company’s products and services will depend on internet service providers and the Company’s system infrastructure for access to the Company’s or its licensees’ products and services. Many of these services have experienced service outages in the past and could experience service outages, delays and other difficulties due to system failures, stability or interruption.
Systems, network or telecommunications failures or cyber-attacks may disrupt the Company’s business and have an adverse effect on EEG’s results of operations.
Any disruption in the Company’s network or telecommunications services could affect the Company’s ability to operate its games and online offerings, which would result in reduced revenues and customer down time. The Company’s network and databases of business or customer information, including intellectual property, trade secrets, and other proprietary business information and those of third parties EEG utilizes, will be susceptible to outages due to fire, floods, power loss, break-ins, cyber-attacks, hackers, network penetration, data privacy or security breaches, denial of service attacks and similar events, including inadvertent dissemination of information due to increased use of social media. Despite implementation of network security measures and data protection safeguards by EEG, including a disaster recovery strategy for back office systems, the Company’s servers and computer resources will be vulnerable to viruses, malicious software, hacking, break-ins or theft, third-party security breaches, employee error or malfeasance, and other potential compromises. Disruptions from unauthorized access to or tampering with the Company’s computer systems, or those of third parties EEG utilizes, in any such event could result in a wide range of negative outcomes, including devaluation of the Company’s intellectual property goodwill and/or brand appeal, increased expenditures on data security, and costly litigation, and can have a material adverse effect on the Company’s business, revenues, reputation, operating results and financial condition.
Risks Related to Our Common Stock
Our officers, directors and founding stockholders may exert significant influence over our affairs, including the outcome of matters requiring stockholder approval.
As of the date of this prospectus, our officers, directors and affiliated stockholders collectively have an approximately 58% beneficial ownership of our company. As a result, such individuals will have the ability, acting together, to control the election of our directors and the outcome of corporate actions requiring stockholder approval, such as: (i) a merger or a sale of our company, (ii) a sale of all or substantially all of our assets, and (iii) amendments to our articles of incorporation and bylaws. This concentration of voting power and control could have a significant effect in delaying, deferring or preventing an action that might otherwise be beneficial to our other stockholders and be disadvantageous to our stockholders with interests different from those individuals. Certain of these individuals also have significant control over our business, policies and affairs as officers or directors of our company. Therefore, you should not invest in reliance on your ability to have any control over our company.
We currently do not intend to pay dividends on our common stock. As a result, your only opportunity to achieve a return on your investment is if the price of our common stock appreciates.
We currently do not expect to declare or pay dividends on our common stock. In addition, in the future we may enter into agreements that prohibit or restrict our ability to declare or pay dividends on our common stock. As a result, your
28
only opportunity to achieve a return on your investment will be if the market price of our common stock appreciates and you sell your shares at a profit.
You may experience dilution of your ownership interest due to the future issuance of additional shares of our common stock.
We are in a capital intensive business and we do not have sufficient funds to finance the growth of our business or to support our projected capital expenditures. As a result, we will require additional funds from future equity or debt financings, including sales of preferred shares or convertible debt, to complete the development of new projects and pay the general and administrative costs of our business. We may in the future issue our previously authorized and unissued securities, resulting in the dilution of the ownership interests of holders of our common stock. We are currently authorized to issue 500,000,000 shares of common stock and 10,000,000 shares of preferred stock. Additionally, the Board may subsequently approve increases in authorized common stock. The potential issuance of such additional shares of common or preferred stock or convertible debt may create downward pressure on the trading price of our common stock. We may also issue additional shares of common stock or other securities that are convertible into or exercisable for common stock in future public offerings or private placements for capital raising purposes or for other business purposes. The future issuance of a substantial number of common shares into the public market, or the perception that such issuance could occur, could adversely affect the prevailing market price of our common shares. A decline in the price of our common shares could make it more difficult to raise funds through future offerings of our common shares or securities convertible into common shares.
Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation allows for our board of directors to create new series of preferred stock without further approval by our stockholders, which could have an anti-takeover effect and could adversely affect holders of our common stock.
Our authorized capital includes preferred stock issuable in one or more series. Our board has the authority to issue preferred stock and determine the price, designation, rights, preferences, privileges, restrictions and conditions, including voting and dividend rights, of those shares without any further vote or action by stockholders. The rights of the holders of common stock will be subject to, and may be adversely affected by, the rights of holders of any preferred stock that may be issued in the future. The issuance of additional preferred stock, while providing desirable flexibility in connection with possible financings and acquisitions and other corporate purposes, could make it more difficult for a third party to acquire a majority of the voting power of our outstanding voting securities, which could deprive our holders of common stock of a premium that they might otherwise realize in connection with a proposed acquisition of our company.
There can be no assurances that our shares and/or warrants will be listed on The Nasdaq Capital Market and, if they are, our shares will be subject to potential delisting if we do not meet or continue to maintain the listing requirements of The Nasdaq Capital Market.
We have applied to list the shares of our common stock on The Nasdaq Capital Market, or Nasdaq. An approval of our listing application by Nasdaq will be subject to, among other things, our fulfilling all of the listing requirements of Nasdaq. In addition, Nasdaq has rules for continued listing, including, without limitation, minimum market capitalization and other requirements. Failure to maintain our listing, or de-listing from Nasdaq, would make it more difficult for shareholders to sell our common stock and more difficult to obtain accurate price quotations on our common stock. This could have an adverse effect on the price of our common stock. Our ability to issue additional securities for financing or other purposes, or otherwise to arrange for any financing we may need in the future, may also be materially and adversely affected if our common stock is not traded on a national securities exchange.
There is currently only a limited public market for our common stock and no public market for our warrants. Failure to develop or maintain a trading market could negatively affect their value and make it difficult or impossible for you to sell your shares.
There is currently only a limited public market for our common stock and no market for our warrants and the public offering price of the units may bear no relationship to the price at which our common stock and warrants will trade after this offering. An active public market for our common stock and/or warrants may not develop or be sustained. Failure to develop or maintain an active trading market could make it difficult for you to sell your shares or warrants without depressing the market price for such securities or recover any part of your investment in us. Even if an active market for
29
our common stock and warrants does develop, the market price of such securities may be highly volatile. In addition to the uncertainties relating to future operating performance and the profitability of operations, factors such as variations in interim financial results or various, as yet unpredictable, factors, many of which are beyond our control, may have a negative effect on the market price of our securities. Further, quotes for shares of our common stock on the OTCQB may not be indicative of the market price on a national securities exchange, such as The Nasdaq Capital Market.
If and when a larger trading market for our securities develops, the market price of such securities is still likely to be highly volatile and subject to wide fluctuations, and you may be unable to resell your securities at or above the price at which you acquired them.
The stock market in general and the market for smaller health service companies in particular have experienced extreme volatility that has often been unrelated to the operating performance of particular companies. The market price for our securities may be influenced by many factors that are beyond our control, including, but not limited to:
• variations in our revenue and operating expenses;
• market conditions in our industry and the economy as a whole;
• actual or expected changes in our growth rates or our competitors’ growth rates;
• developments or disputes concerning patent applications, issued patents or other proprietary rights;
• developments in the financial markets and worldwide or regional economies;
• variations in our financial results or those of companies that are perceived to be similar to us;
• announcements by the government relating to regulations that govern our industry;
• sales of our common stock or other securities by us or in the open market;
• changes in the market valuations of other comparable companies;
• general economic, industry and market conditions; and
• the other factors described in this “Risk Factors” section.
The trading price of our shares might also decline in reaction to events that affect other companies in our industry, even if these events do not directly affect us. Each of these factors, among others, could harm the value of your investment in our securities. In the past, following periods of volatility in the market, securities class-action litigation has often been instituted against companies. Such litigation, if instituted against us, could result in substantial costs and diversion of management’s attention and resources, which could materially and adversely affect our business, operating results and financial condition.
Efforts to comply with the applicable provisions of Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act will involve significant expenditures, and non-compliance with Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act may adversely affect us and the market price of our common stock.
Under current SEC rules, we have been required to report on our internal control over financial reporting pursuant to Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, or Section 404, and related rules and regulations of the SEC. We will be required to review on an annual basis our internal control over financial reporting, and on a quarterly and annual basis to evaluate and disclose changes in our internal control over financial reporting. This process may result in a diversion of management’s time and attention and may involve significant expenditures. We have not maintained internal control over financial reporting in a manner that meets the standards of publicly traded companies required by Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002. The rules governing the standards that must be met for our evaluation management to assess our internal control over financial reporting are complex and require significant documentation, testing and possible remediation. We expect to begin the process of reviewing, documenting, and testing our internal control over financial reporting after completion of this offering. We might encounter problems or delays in completing the implementation of any changes necessary to make a favorable assessment of our internal control over financial reporting. If we cannot favorably assess the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting, investors could lose confidence in our financial information and the price of our common stock could decline.
30
If securities or industry analysts do not publish or cease publishing research or reports about us, or publish inaccurate or unfavorable reports about, our business or our market, or if they change their recommendations regarding our stock adversely, our stock price and trading volume could decline.
The trading market for our common stock, to some extent, will be influenced by the research and reports that industry or securities analysts may publish about us, our business, our market or our competitors.
We do not have any control over these analysts.
Our internal control over financial reporting does not currently meet the standards required by Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, and failure to achieve and maintain effective internal control over financial reporting in accordance with Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act could have a material adverse effect on our business and stock price.
We have not maintained internal control over financial reporting in a manner that meets the standards of publicly traded companies required by Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002. The rules governing the standards that must be met for our management to assess our internal control over financial reporting are complex and require significant documentation, testing and possible remediation. We expect to begin the process of reviewing, documenting and testing our internal control over financial reporting after completion of this offering. We might encounter problems or delays in completing the implementation of any changes necessary to make a favorable assessment of our internal control over financial reporting. If we cannot favorably assess the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting, investors could lose confidence in our financial information and the price of our common stock could decline.
Anti-takeover provisions in our charter documents and Nevada law could discourage, delay or prevent a change in control of our company and may affect the trading price of our common stock and warrants.
We are a Nevada corporation and the anti-takeover provisions of the Nevada Revised Statutes may discourage, delay or prevent a change in control by prohibiting us from engaging in a business combination with an interested stockholder for a period of three years after the person becomes an interested stockholder, even if a change in control would be beneficial to our existing stockholders. In addition, our certificate of incorporation and bylaws may discourage, delay or prevent a change in our management or control over us that stockholders may consider favorable. Our certificate of incorporation and bylaws:
• authorize the issuance of “blank check” preferred stock that could be issued by our Board of Directors to thwart a takeover attempt;
• provide that vacancies on our Board of Directors, including newly created directorships, may be filled by a majority vote of directors then in office;
• place restrictive requirements (including advance notification of stockholder nominations and proposals) on how special meetings of stockholders may be called by our stockholders;
• do not provide stockholders with the ability to cumulate their votes; and
• provide that our Board of Directors or a majority of our stockholders may amend our bylaws.
Risks Related To The Offering
Investors in this offering will experience immediate and substantial dilution in net tangible book value.
The public offering price per unit will be substantially higher than the net tangible book value per share of our outstanding shares of common stock. As a result, investors in this offering will incur immediate dilution of $________ per share, based on the assumed public offering price of $5.50 per unit, the mid-point of the estimated offering price range described on the cover of this prospectus. Investors in this offering will pay a price per unit that substantially exceeds the book value of our assets after subtracting our liabilities. To the extent that the warrants sold in this offering are exercised, you will experience further dilution. See “Dilution” for a more complete description of how the value of your investment will be diluted upon the completion of this offering.
31
In the event that our common stock and warrants are listed on The Nasdaq Capital Market our stock price could fall and we could be delisted in which case broker-dealers may be discouraged from effecting transactions in shares of our common stock because they may be considered penny stocks and thus be subject to the penny stock rules.
The SEC has adopted a number of rules to regulate “penny stocks” that restricts transactions involving stock which is deemed to be penny stock. Such rules include Rules 3a51-1, 15g-1, 15g-2, 15g-3, 15g-4, 15g-5, 15g-6, 15g-7, and 15g-9 under the Securities and Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. These rules may have the effect of reducing the liquidity of penny stocks. “Penny stocks” generally are equity securities with a price of less than $5.00 per share (other than securities registered on certain national securities exchanges or quoted on the Nasdaq Stock Market if current price and volume information with respect to transactions in such securities is provided by the exchange or system). Our securities have in the past constituted, and may again in the future constitute, “penny stock” within the meaning of the rules. The additional sales practice and disclosure requirements imposed upon U.S. broker-dealers may discourage such broker-dealers from effecting transactions in shares of our common stock, which could severely limit the market liquidity of such shares and impede their sale in the secondary market.
A U.S. broker-dealer selling penny stock to anyone other than an established customer or “accredited investor” (generally, an individual with net worth in excess of $1,000,000 or an annual income exceeding $200,000, or $300,000 together with his or her spouse) must make a special suitability determination for the purchaser and must receive the purchaser’s written consent to the transaction prior to sale, unless the broker-dealer or the transaction is otherwise exempt. In addition, the “penny stock” regulations require the U.S. broker-dealer to deliver, prior to any transaction involving a “penny stock”, a disclosure schedule prepared in accordance with SEC standards relating to the “penny stock” market, unless the broker-dealer or the transaction is otherwise exempt. A U.S. broker-dealer is also required to disclose commissions payable to the U.S. broker-dealer and the registered representative and current quotations for the securities. Finally, a U.S. broker-dealer is required to submit monthly statements disclosing recent price information with respect to the “penny stock” held in a customer’s account and information with respect to the limited market in “penny stocks”.
Stockholders should be aware that, according to the SEC, the market for “penny stocks” has suffered in recent years from patterns of fraud and abuse. Such patterns include (i) control of the market for the security by one or a few broker-dealers that are often related to the promoter or issuer; (ii) manipulation of prices through prearranged matching of purchases and sales and false and misleading press releases; (iii) “boiler room” practices involving high-pressure sales tactics and unrealistic price projections by inexperienced sales persons; (iv) excessive and undisclosed bid-ask differentials and markups by selling broker-dealers; and (v) the wholesale dumping of the same securities by promoters and broker-dealers after prices have been manipulated to a desired level, resulting in investor losses. Our management is aware of the abuses that have occurred historically in the penny stock market. Although we do not expect to be in a position to dictate the behavior of the market or of broker-dealers who participate in the market, management will strive within the confines of practical limitations to prevent the described patterns from being established with respect to our securities.
Although we intend to conduct a reverse stock split to increase the price per share of our common stock such that it would not be subject to the “penny stock” rules, and we have applied to list our common stock and warrants on The Nasdaq Capital Market, no assurance can be given that we will be able to effect such reverse stock split or that the share price of our common stock will improve following the reverse stock split, or that our common stock will be ever be listed on The Nasdaq Capital Market or any other exchange, such that our stock will no longer be subject to these rules.
Speculative nature of warrants.
The warrants offered in this offering do not confer any rights of common stock ownership on their holders, such as voting rights or the right to receive dividends, but rather merely represent the right to acquire shares of our common stock at a fixed price for a limited period of time. Specifically, commencing on the date of issuance, holders of the warrants may exercise their right to acquire the common stock and pay an exercise price of ___ per share, prior to five years from the date of issuance, after which date any unexercised warrants will expire and have no further value. Moreover, following this offering, the market value of the warrants is uncertain and there can be no assurance that the market value of the warrants will equal or exceed their public offering price. There can be no assurance that the market price of the common stock will ever equal or exceed the exercise price of the warrants, and consequently, whether it will ever be profitable for holders of the warrants to exercise the warrants.
32
We may need additional capital, and the sale of additional shares or equity or debt securities could result in additional dilution to our stockholders.
We believe that our existing cash, together with the net proceeds from this offering, will be sufficient to meet our anticipated cash needs for at least the next 12 months. We may, however, require additional cash resources due to changed business conditions or other future developments. If these resources are insufficient to satisfy our cash requirements, we may seek to sell additional equity or debt securities or obtain one or more credit facilities. The sale of additional equity securities could result in additional dilution to our stockholders and the terms of these securities may include liquidation or other preferences that adversely affect your rights as a common stockholder. The incurrence of indebtedness would result in increased debt service obligations and could result in operating and financing covenants that would restrict our operations. It is uncertain whether financing will be available in amounts or on terms acceptable to us, if at all.
If we raise additional funds through government or other third-party funding, collaborations, strategic alliances, licensing arrangements or marketing and distribution arrangements, we may have to relinquish valuable rights to our technologies, future revenue stream or grant licenses on terms that may not be favorable to us. If we are unable to raise additional funds through equity or debt financings when needed, we may be required to delay, limit, reduce or terminate our product development or future commercialization efforts or grant rights to develop and market products that we would otherwise prefer to develop and market ourselves.
We have broad discretion in the use of the net proceeds from this offering and may not use them effectively.
Our management will have broad discretion in the application of the net proceeds, including for any of the purposes described in the section of this prospectus entitled “Use of Proceeds.” You will be relying on the judgment of our management with regard to the use of these net proceeds, and you will not have the opportunity, as part of your investment decision, to assess whether the net proceeds are being used appropriately. The failure by our management to apply these funds effectively could result in financial losses that could have a material adverse effect on our business, cause the price of our securities to decline and delay the development of our product candidates. Pending the application of these funds, we may invest the net proceeds from this offering in a manner that does not produce income or that loses value.
Sales of a substantial number of shares of our common stock following this offering may adversely affect the market price of our common stock and the issuance of additional shares will dilute all other stockholders.
Sales of a substantial number of shares of our common stock in the public market or otherwise following this offering, or the perception that such sales could occur, could adversely affect the market price of our common stock. After completion of this offering at an assumed offering price of $5.50 per unit, the mid-point of the estimated offering price range described on the cover of this prospectus, our existing stockholders will own approximately % of our common stock assuming there is no exercise of the underwriters’ over-allotment option.
After completion of this offering at an assumed offering price of $5.50 per unit, the mid-point of the estimated offering price range described on the cover of this prospectus, there will be shares of our common stock outstanding. In addition, our certificate of incorporation, as amended, permits the issuance of up to approximately additional shares of common stock after the completion of this offering. Thus, we have the ability to issue substantial amounts of common stock in the future, which would dilute the percentage ownership held by the investors who purchase shares of our common stock in this offering.
We and our officers, directors and certain stockholders have agreed, subject to customary exceptions, not to, without the prior written consent of Maxim Group LLC, the representative of the underwriters, during the period ending 365 days from the date of this offering in the case of us and our certain directors and officers, 90-180 days from the date of this offering in the case of our stockholders who beneficially own more than 5% of our common stock (See “Conversion of Convertible Debentures, Promissory Notes and Accounts Payable”), directly or indirectly, offer to sell, sell, pledge or otherwise transfer or dispose of any of shares of our common stock, enter into any swap or other derivatives transaction that transfers to another any of the economic benefits or risks of ownership of shares of our common stock, make any demand for or exercise any right or cause to be filed a registration statement, including any amendments thereto, with respect to the registration of any shares of common stock or securities convertible into or exercisable or exchangeable for common stock or any other securities of the Company or publicly disclose the intention to do any of the foregoing.
33
After the lock-up agreements with certain of our principal stockholders pertaining to this offering expire, up to of the shares that had been locked up will be eligible for future sale in the public market. After the lock-up agreements with our directors and officers pertaining to this offering expire, up to of the shares (net of any shares also restricted by lock-up agreements with our principal stockholders) that had been locked up will be eligible for future sale in the public market. After the lock-up agreements with certain directors, officers and principal stockholders pertaining to this offering expire 12 months from the date of this offering unless waived earlier by the managing underwriter, up to of the shares (net of any shares also restricted by lock-up agreements with our principal stockholders) that had been locked up will be eligible for future sale in the public market. Sales of a significant number of these shares of common stock in the public market could reduce the market price of the common stock.
Risks Related To Our Reverse Stock Split
We intend to effect a reverse stock split of our outstanding common stock prior to this offering; however, the reverse stock split may not increase our stock price sufficiently and we may not be able to list our common stock and warrants on The Nasdaq Capital Market, in which case this offering may not be completed.
We expect that the reverse stock split of our outstanding common stock will increase the market price of our common stock so that we will be able to meet the minimum bid price requirement of the Listing Rules of The Nasdaq Capital Market; however, the effect of a reverse stock split upon the market price of our common stock cannot be predicted with certainty, and the results of reverse stock splits by companies in similar circumstances have been varied. It is possible that the market price of our common stock following the reverse stock split will not increase sufficiently for us to be in compliance with the minimum bid price requirement. If we are unable meet the minimum bid price requirement, we may be unable to list our shares and warrants on The Nasdaq Capital Market, in which case this offering may not be completed.
Even if the reverse stock split achieves the requisite increase in the market price of our common stock, we cannot assure you that we will be able to continue to comply with the minimum bid price requirement of the The Nasdaq Capital Market.
Even if the reverse stock split achieves the requisite increase in the market price of our common stock to be in compliance with the minimum bid price of The Nasdaq Capital Market, there can be no assurance that the market price of our common stock following the reverse stock split will remain at the level required for continuing compliance with that requirement. It is not uncommon for the market price of a company’s common stock to decline in the period following a reverse stock split. If the market price of our common stock declines following the effectuation of a reverse stock split, the percentage decline may be greater than would occur in the absence of a reverse stock split. In any event, other factors unrelated to the number of shares of our common stock outstanding, such as negative financial or operational results, could adversely affect the market price of our common stock and jeopardize our ability to meet or maintain The Nasdaq Capital Market’s minimum bid price requirement. In addition to specific listing and maintenance standards,
The Nasdaq Capital Market has broad discretionary authority over the initial and continued listing of securities, which it could exercise with respect to the listing of our common stock.
Even if the reverse stock split increases the market price of our common stock, there can be no assurance that we will be able to comply with other continued listing standards of The Nasdaq Capital Market.
Even if the market price of our common stock increases sufficiently so that we comply with the minimum bid price requirement, we cannot assure you that we will be able to comply with the other standards that we are required to meet in order to maintain a listing of our common stock on The Nasdaq Capital Market. Our failure to meet these requirements may result in our common stock being delisted from The Nasdaq Capital Market, irrespective of our compliance with the minimum bid price requirement.
The reverse stock split may decrease the liquidity of the shares of our common stock.
The liquidity of the shares of our common stock may be affected adversely by the reverse stock split given the reduced number of shares that will be outstanding following the reverse stock split, especially if the market price of our common stock does not increase as a result of the reverse stock split. In addition, the reverse stock split may increase
34
the number of stockholders who own odd lots (less than 100 shares) of our common stock, creating the potential for such stockholders to experience an increase in the cost of selling their shares and greater difficulty effecting such sales.
Following the reverse stock split, the resulting market price of our common stock may not attract new investors, including institutional investors, and may not satisfy the investing requirements of those investors. Consequently, the trading liquidity of our common stock may not improve.
Although we believe that a higher market price of our common stock may help generate greater or broader investor interest, there can be no assurance that the reverse stock split will result in a share price that will attract new investors, including institutional investors. In addition, there can be no assurance that the market price of our common stock will satisfy the investing requirements of those investors. As a result, the trading liquidity of our common stock may not necessarily improve.
35
BUSINESS
Business Overview
Esports is the competitive playing of video games by amateur and professional teams for cash prizes. Esports typically takes the form of organized, multiplayer video games that include real-time strategy, fighting, first-person shooter and multiplayer online battle arena games. As of March 20, 2019, the three largest selling esports games were Dota 2, League of Legends (each multiplayer online battle arena games) and Counter Strike: Global Offensive (a first-person shooter game). Other popular games include Smite, StarCraft II, Call of Duty¸ Heroes of the Storm, Hearthstone and Fortnite. Esports also includes games which can be played, primarily by amateurs, in multiplayer competitions on the Sony PlayStation, Microsoft Xbox and WII (Nintendo). Most major professional esports events and a wide range of amateur esports events are broadcast live via streaming services including twitch.tv, azubu.tv, ustream.tv and youtube.com.
Esports Entertainment Group, Inc. (“Esports,” “EEG,” “we,” “us,” “our,” or the “Company”) operates a licensed online gambling platform focused purely on the esports industry. Utilizing our peer-to-peer wagering system, we offer real money betting exchange style wagering on esports events from around the world in a secure environment. A betting exchange allows players to bet against one another rather than a bookmaker. Players can offer odds to, or request odds from, other players who wish to wager. Where traditional bookmakers risk going head-to-head with gamblers on markets, a betting exchange takes on no risk on the particular outcome of an event. Instead, a betting exchange provides the platform for its customers to match bets against one another and takes a small commission on winnings. Betting exchanges are becoming an increasingly integral part of the global gambling landscape, in many cases enabling customers to obtain better odds, more transparency and an experience that feels intuitively fairer. We believe that we are currently the only online gambling company focused on esports to offer bet exchange style wagering or player versus player (“PvP”) betting, on professional esports events. Further, the platform also facilitates gambling through “pool betting” whereby a group of people, be it a fan base of a team or a player or a group of friends and family, can pay a fixed price into a “pool” and then make a selection on an outcome, related to a tournament or game in esport. After the event has finished, those that selected the winner get an equal share of the pool.
At the current time, under the terms of our existing Curacao license, we are currently able to accept wagers from residents of over 149 jurisdictions including Canada, Japan, Germany and South Africa. We have applied for a gaming service license from the Malta Gaming Authority. If our application is approved and a license is issued, we expect that residents in a number of European Union member states will be able to place bets on our website. We are also able to accept payments from additional third party payment providers. Money Matrix, a licensed regulated financial institution and our third party payment platform, updates the jurisdictions we are able to accept bets from on a real time basis as these changes occur. When customers open an account on our website, they are required to make a deposit and Money Matrix displays a list of payment options available to that person based on the jurisdiction they are located in. It is expected that if and when we acquire additional gaming licenses, additional payment options will become available to us and we will be able to accept bets in additional jurisdictions. Money Matrix automatically updates our website with additional payment options as they negotiate with various payment providers.
Although official competitions have long been a part of video game culture, participation and spectatorship of such events have seen a global surge in popularity over the last few years with the rapid growth of online streaming. The advent of online streaming has turned esports into a global industry that includes professional players and teams competing in major events that are simultaneously watched in-person in stadiums and by online viewers, which regularly exceed 1,000,000 for major tournaments. The impact has been so significant that many video game developers are now building features into their games designed to facilitate competition.
According to Newzoo, a global leader in esports, games and mobile intelligence, it is expected the total global esports audience will reach 453.8 million in 2019. Esports Enthusiasts, which are people who watch professional esports content at least once a month, will make up 201.2 million of the total up from 143.2 million in 2017, with a projected compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of +15.7% (2017-2022) to reach almost 297 million in 2022. The global average revenue per Esports Enthusiast, which includes not only gaming revenue, but also sponsorships, advertising and all other esports related revenues, is projected to be $5.45 in 2019, up 8.9% from $5.00 in 2018. The number of occasional esports viewers (people who watch professional esports content less than once a month) is expected to reach 252.6 million in 2019, up from 221.6 million in 2018, and is projected to grow with a CAGR of +12.6% to surpass 347 million in 2022. The number of people who are aware of esports worldwide is expected to reach 1.8 billion in
44
2019, up from 1.6 billion in 2018. China is expected to contribute most to global esports awareness, with 500.2 million people aware of esports in 2019. The increasing prominence of esports as a mainstream entertainment industry is driving the growth in awareness in most regions. Audience and awareness growth in the emerging regions of Latin America, Middle East and Africa, Southeast Asia, and Rest of Asia is largely driven by improving IT infrastructure and urbanization. We believe the rise of new franchises, such as Player Unknown’s Battlegrounds or PubG, is an important global growth factor as the influx of millennials should continue to drive the growth of the industry’s audience.
In 2018, there were 737 major esports events that generated an estimated $54.7 million in ticket revenues, up from $32 million in 2016, but down from 58.9 million in 2017. The total prize money of all esports events held in 2018 reached $150.8 million, after breaking the $100 million mark for the first time in 2017. The League of Legends World Championship was 2018’s biggest tournament by live viewership hours on Twitch, with 53.8 million hours. It also produced $1.9 million in ticket revenues. The Overwatch League was the most-watched league by live viewership hours on Twitch, generating 79.5 million hours.
According to Statista, the amounts wagered on esports betting is expected to grow from $315 million in 2015 to $23.5 billion in 2020. Forbes magazine projects fans of eSports will wager $23 billion on professional esports events by 2020. We believe as the size of the market and the number of esports enthusiasts continues to grow, so will the number of esports enthusiasts gambling on the events will also continue to grow, making our platform more in demand.
History
Esports Entertainment Group, Inc. was formed in the State of Nevada on July 22, 2008 under our prior name Virtual Closet, Inc. Virtual Closet, Inc. changed its name to DK Sinopharma, Inc. on June 6, 2010. DK Sinopharma, Inc. changed its name to VGambling, Inc. on August 12, 2014. On or about April 24, 2017, VGambling, Inc. changed its name to Esports Entertainment Group, Inc. Our company was engaged in a number of different enterprises up until May 20, 2013, when, pursuant to the terms of the Share Exchange Agreement, we acquired all of the outstanding capital stock of H&H Arizona Corporation in exchange for 50,000,000 shares of our common stock. From May 2013 until August 2018, our operations were limited to designing, developing and testing our wagering systems. We launched our online esports wagering website (www.vie.gg) in August 2018.
Competitive Advantages/Operational Strengths
We believe the following strengths position us for sustainable growth:
Management Team and Key Personnel Experience: Our Board includes senior managers with extensive experience in online gambling, esports, information technology, compliance, regulation, accounting and finance. Our Officers and Senior Managers include individuals with extensive experience in online gambling, esports, information technology, marketing, business development, payment processing, compliance, regulation, accounting, finance and customer service.
Licensed Technology/IP: We are currently party to an exclusive software licensing agreement for our bet exchange software platform (the “Licensed Software”) with Swiss Interactive Software (GmbH) Switzerland (“Swiss Interactive”), a company controlled by Yan Rozum, our former Chief Technology Officer and a former director of the Company. We believe our bet exchange platform provides us with a first mover advantage, as we believe that we are currently the only bet exchange platform in the esports wagering market. Virtually all other companies offering esports wagering are using the “bookie” model whereby the player wagers against the house. Our Licensed Software requires complex code and very skilled development, as opposed to the software used for bookie style wagering which is widely available and easily reproduced. Accordingly, we believe the complexity of our licensed software and bet exchange platform offers a higher barrier to entry than standard wagering platforms.
On April 7, 2019, we entered into a Software Transfer Agreement for the purchase of the Licensed Software for consideration of $1,700,000, the consummation of which is contingent upon either the Company’s completion of a (i) any private placement offerings or registered public offerings pursuant to which the Company received proceeds in excess of $6,000,000 or (ii) any private or public offerings in connection with the listing of the Company’s securities on a national securities exchange (“Qualified Offering”). If the Company does not complete a Qualified Offering within six months of the execution date of the transfer agreement, such agreement becomes void and the Company and Swiss Interactive are required to continue to abide by the terms of the existing agreement on the Licensed Software. On October 4, 2019, the Software Transfer Agreement was amended to extend the term of the agreement until June 30, 2020.
45
Affiliate Marketing Program: Our affiliate marketing program focuses on professional esports teams and individual social media influencers. As part of our efforts to market our online gaming services, we attempt to enter into “Affiliate Marketing Agreements” with professional esports teams and other influential individuals and groups within esports. As an Affiliate, the esports team will provide their fans with a link to our online gaming website, where the fan, if located in a country which allows the fan to place a bet using our gaming platform, can bet on teams playing in esports tournaments.
For a player placing a bet through the marketing affiliate’s link to our website and provided such player wins the bet, we pay the Affiliate a percentage of the amount we collect from the winning bet. We believe our PvP wagering model allows us to attract and retain affiliate marketing partners who participate directly in the revenues generated by their referrals to our website. In addition, our affiliate marketing partners are paid fees between 25% and 35% of revenues that they generate through their own client base or fan base, depending upon the system they employ. Instead of the Company incurring significant costs related to online advertising, which must be paid for in advance, this system allows us to spend less resources on advertising directly because our affiliate partners market to their own client or fan bases for us. Because our affiliate marketing partners typically have a pool of clients and fan bases already interested in esports and or wagering, we believe this program not only affords the Company savings related to marketing expense, but also serves as an avenue for direct or targeted marketing which would presumably lead to increased traffic on our website.
Growth Strategy
In the future, we intend to expand our services to offer players the ability to participate in video game tournaments for cash prizes. We also intend to grow our existing business through the expansion into additional international markets. Lastly, we plan to increase our marketing efforts and upgrade sales and marketing capabilities which should result in further growth.
Future Products and Services:
Online Esports Tournament Play
We intend to offer players from around the world, including the United States (except in 13 states in the US and other jurisdictions outside the US which currently prohibit playing games of skill for cash prizes), the ability to enter and participate in online video game tournaments and win cash prizes. Online esports tournament play consists of two or more people playing against each other in a game from their personal phones or computers, where such players do not necessarily have to be playing in real time. These events could be held over the course of a day, a week or even a month and the winner will be the one with the top score or the fastest time at the conclusion of the event. Cash-based tournaments involving games of skill are not considered gambling in most U.S. states because the generally accepted definition of gambling involves three specific things: (1) the award of a prize, (2) paid-in consideration (meaning entrants pay to compete) and (3) an outcome determined on the basis of chance. As a result, games of skill are not generally subject to the same laws and regulations as our esports event wagering service. We expect participants in our tournaments being able to enter and play against each other with prize money distributed to the last remaining competitors. We anticipate collecting a tournament entry fee for our tournaments, as well as a percentage of total winnings that are paid to users (typically 10% of the entry fees) and thus none of our money will be at risk or otherwise dependent on the outcome. We intend to offer users a wide selection of video games of skill to be played online for real money in small groups to major tournaments.
We intend to develop, license or acquire from a third party an online skill games tournament play platform. Users will be able to enter and participate in tournaments using their PC, game console or mobile device. Players will play against each other in either ring games (i.e., games for cash on a hand-by-hand basis) or in tournaments (i.e., players play against each other for prize money distributed to the last remaining competitors) or variations thereof. We expect to launch online versions of tournament play, initially utilizing simple video games and later more complex video games, under the VIE brand beginning in the second half of 2020.
Live Esports Tournament Play
It is our intention to launch live esport tournament play in the fourth quarter of 2020. During a “live” tournament all participants have to be “online” at the same time playing against each other and just like in a live traditional sporting event there will be a winner at the end of the game. This platform would be a secured third party platform for online gamers to set up head-to-head tournaments in one on one or larger groups. Once a tournament has been accepted by
46
two or more members/players, money from player accounts is automatically deposited into a secure escrow account. After the online game has been played, the results have been reported and verified by all players, the winner’s account will automatically be credited. The platform will be set up so players can play in head-to-head matches online only for games of skill, not chance. These games include Madden, FIFA, NBA 2K, Call of Duty, Apex Legends and more. We expect to have a list of available games on our homepage. We expect to continuously add games based on feedback from players. Initially it is our intention to support the following systems: Xbox1, PS4, PC, Xbox 360, PS3, WII & WII U.
International Market Expansion
We have applied for an online gambling license in Malta, established a brick and mortar office there and intend to commence online gambling operations in that jurisdiction in 2019. If we are successful in obtaining this license, we expect that residents of a number of European Union countries will be able to place bets on our website. In order to better service the Asian market, we intend to apply for an online gambling license in an Asian jurisdiction and commence online gambling operations in such jurisdiction within the next 12 months. In the future, we may consider obtaining additional country specific gaming licenses should we determine there is sufficient local demand for our services in these markets.
In order to effectively penetrate international markets, we intend to translate our website into several additional languages and offer customer service and technical support in the local language of key markets.
Our Online Wagering Platforms
According to Zion Market Research’s, Online Gambling & Betting Market by Game Form (Poker, Casino, Sports Betting, Bingo, Lottery, Horse Racing Betting, and Others) and by Component (Hardware, Software, and Service): Global Industry Perspective, Comprehensive Analysis and Forecast, 2017 – 2024, the online gambling market represents one of the fastest growing segments of the gambling industry. Zion Market estimates the current size of the global online gambling market is in excess of US$45.8 billion and is projected to reach US$94.4 billion by 2024.
We are currently focused solely on offering online wagering on the widest range of esports events broadcast from around the world. We do not offer online users traditional casino style games such as poker, craps or slots, nor do we offer online wagering on traditional sporting events such as football or soccer.
All persons 18 years and older can presently place bets on our online gambling website at www.vie.gg except for residents of the following countries:
• United States
• European Union member countries (with the exception of Germany)
• Turkey
• Singapore
• Colombia
We have applied for an online gambling license from the country of Malta in order to allow residents of certain European Union member countries to place bets on our website. If granted, residents of a number of European Union countries would be able to place bets on our website.
Once on our website, a player can place a bet on a team participating in any number of tournaments which are scheduled to be held in the upcoming weeks. This takes place on our betting exchange. A player can either start the bet, using whatever odds are chosen by the player, or accept a bet started by another player. Each bet pertains to a particular game in the tournament. Once the game is over, the winning proceeds, net of our service fee, are electronically transferred to the winning player’s account. For our services, we keep 5.0% to 10.0% of the amount paid to the winning player.
We also maintain and “how to play” section on the website which provides players with instructional videos walking them through the betting exchange platform as well as other pieces of information that may be beneficial to an unexperienced player or a new user of our website or exchange platform.
47
Additionally, we maintain a “frequently asked questions” section which provides our customers with the ability to easily navigate general questions relating to the website, personal account information, payment processing, betting rules and procedures as well as tips.
We have agreements with the following third party companies that provide us with certain services that enable our website to function efficiently:
Money Matrix. MoneyMatrix provides us with the software we use to receive payments from players. Using MoneyMatrix, a player can select from over 150 payment options (i.e. Skrill, Astropay) to deposit funds with us for use in placing bets.
Partner Matrix. Partner Matrix provides us with the software we use to track players placing a bet through an Affiliate’s link to our website.
SportRadar. SportRadar provides our online gaming website with information as to upcoming tournaments, such as the teams participating in those tournaments, the dates and times of specific tournament games and the winners of tournament games.
Money Matrix, Partner Matrix and SportRadar all are paid monthly for their services to the Company.
Swiss Interactive. Our betting platform and source code is licensed from Swiss Interactive, a company controlled by Yan Rozum, our former Chief Technology Officer and a former member of the Board of Directors. Additionally, Swiss Interactive provides software development and network administration services. We pay Swiss Interactive a percentage on gaming revenues (capped at $300,000 annually) for this license depending on the volume of transactions. Additionally, we pay Swiss Interactive a monthly service fee of $24,700.
Marketing and Sales Initiatives
The Company has sponsorship marketing agreements in place for their website as well a similar agreement with HLTV.org (HLTV) to drive traffic to its website. HLTV is the leading Counter-Strike coverage site in the world with on-site coverage of all major tournaments, they feature, stats, demos, news, results, standings, videos, photos, and more. We pay them $6,500 per month for marketing services and betting lists which is the list of events to wager on. In addition, the Company also has an agreement in place with an analytics based company to better identify and source better quality campaigns and selective advertising locations.
We expect to expand into new geographic territories, assuming we obtain licenses to operate in those territories. The need for hands-on implementation in these territories and support may also require investment in additional physical offices and other overhead. We believe our approach is conservative in these respects.
We may accelerate expansion if we find complementary businesses that we are able to acquire in other territories. Our marketing efforts to expand into new territories have included attendance at esports events in addition to personal contact with other market participants.
Esports games are played by professional teams, amateur teams, and individuals. Professional esports teams typically have their own social media presence, with some of the top professional teams having millions of fans who visit the team’s website on a regular basis. A website of a professional esports team usually contains specific information about the team and lists upcoming tournaments or events in which the team will be participating. As part of our efforts to market our online gaming services, we attempt to enter into affiliate marketing agreements with professional esport teams.
As a marketing affiliate, the esports team will provide their fans with a link to our online gaming website, where the fan, if located in a country which allows the fan to place a bet using our gaming platform, can bet on teams playing in esports tournaments. For a player placing a bet through the team’s link to our website (and provided the player won the bet), we pay the Affiliate a percentage of the amount we collect from the winning bet. As of October [•], 2019, we had more than 170 esports teams agreeing to act as our marketing affiliates.
We plan to increase our marketing efforts and awareness of our website and future offerings by:
• continuing to grow our efforts with our affiliate marketing program with professional esports teams;
• advertising and sponsoring major professional esports events held in stadiums around the world that are broadcast online to a global audience;
48
• utilizing celebrities and social media influencers who have an interest in video games and esports to generate new customers. We intend to increase our efforts in attracting esports players and other celebrities who have an interest in video games and esports to enter into affiliate marketing agreements with the Company;
• using a multimedia approach focused on acquiring and retaining customers. We intend to utilize multiple electronic social media platforms to promote the Company’s wagering business including, but not limited to, Facebook Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat, Youtube, Twitch, Whatsapp, QQ, WeChat, email and SMS messages; and
• using online advertisements, paid search optimization and various social media campaigns to increase our online presence and drive traffic to our website. We intend to increase our investments in online advertisements, primarily through the purchase of banner advertisements on esports and esports gambling related websites. We also intend to continue to invest in optimizing the Company’s website so it will attain a high ranking under key search words or phrases, such as “esports gambling.”
During the twelve months ending June 30, 2020, we plan to spend approximately $400,000 on marketing. A portion of the proceeds from this offering will be used to increase these marketing expenses as we continue to grow and amplify our Esports brand awareness efforts.
Competition
The online gambling and wagering industry is increasingly competitive. With relatively low barriers to entry, new competitors are entering the esports wagering and video game tournament segments. In both of these segments, there currently exist several major competitors. Because many of these competitors focus on delivering one product, as opposed to a full suite of esports and video gambling products and services that we intend to offer, the competitors may offer an equivalent or superior product to that of the Company. We expect the number of companies offering products and services in each market segment to increase. Most of our current competitors, including Unikrn, bet365, William Hill, Betway, and Pinnacle Sports, have far greater resources than we have.
We believe the following differentiates us from our competitors:
• Peer-to-Peer Wagering Model:
We believe we are the first and only esports-focused online gambling company to offer bet exchange style wagering and pool betting on professional esports events. Our unique peer-to-peer wagering and gaming model allows the users to wager against other users, with no risk on the particular outcome of an event to the Company and a player always wins. The Company’s real-money betting exchange style wagering and pool betting enables us to facilitate wagering on a wide range of professional esports events broadcast online. We believe that our PvP bet exchange platform allows us to offer players the best odds when wagering on esports events.
• Esports Focused:
We are focused solely on esports gambling and 18+ gaming. We will not offer users traditional casino style games like poker, craps or slots nor do we anticipate offering wagering on traditional sporting events like football or soccer. We are focused solely on delivering the widest selection of content and offering the widest range of esports events all for real-money wagering.
Regulations Affecting our Business
The offering and operation of online real-money gambling platforms and related software and solutions is subject to extensive regulation and approval by various federal, state, provincial, tribal and foreign agencies (collectively, “gaming authorities”). Gambling laws require us to obtain licenses or findings of suitability from gaming authorities for Esports Entertainment, including each of our subsidiaries engaged in these activities, and certain of our directors, officers, employees and in some instances, significant shareholders (typically beneficial owners of more than 5% of a company’s outstanding equity). The criteria used by gambling authorities to make determinations as to qualification and suitability of an applicant varies among jurisdictions, but generally require the submission of detailed personal and financial information followed by a thorough and sometimes lengthy investigation. Gaming authorities have broad discretion in determining whether an applicant qualifies for licensing or should be found suitable. Gambling
49
authorities generally look to the following criteria when determining to grant a license or finding of suitability, including (i) the financial stability, integrity and responsibility of the applicant, (ii) the quality and security of the applicant’s online real-money platform and gaming equipment and related software, as applicable, and (iii) the past history of the applicant. Gambling authorities may, subject to certain administrative proceeding requirements, (i) deny an application, or limit, condition, restrict, revoke or suspend any license, registration, finding of suitability or approval, and (ii) fine any person licensed, registered or found suitable or approved. Notwithstanding the foregoing, some jurisdictions explicitly prohibit gaming in all or certain forms and we will not market our gambling services in these jurisdictions. If any director, officer or employee of ours fails to qualify for a license or is found unsuitable (including due to the failure to submit the required documentation) by a gaming authority, we may deem it necessary, or be required to, sever our relationship with such person, which may include terminating the employment of any such person. Gambling authorities have the right to investigate any individual or entity having a material relationship with us, to determine whether such individual or entity is suitable or should be licensed to do business as a business associate of ours. In addition, certain gambling authorities monitor the activities of the entities they regulate both in their respective jurisdiction and in other jurisdictions to ensure that these entities are in compliance with local standards on a worldwide basis.
On May 14, 2018, the Supreme Court of the United States struck down the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act, a 1992 law that barred state-authorized sports gambling with some exceptions and made Nevada the only state where a person could wager on the results of a single game. Since the Supreme Court’s decision, sports gambling has commenced in several states and several more states have enabling legislation pending. We believe that the Supreme Court’s decision will allow our platform to be used in the United States at some point in the future. We plan to explore expansion of our esports online wagering platform into the US market place at the appropriate time.
The Unlawful internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006 (“UIEGA”) made it a federal offense, punishable by up to five years in prison, for a business to accept payments “in connection with the participation of another person in unlawful internet gambling.” The UIGEA fails to define “unlawful gambling.” Most U.S. jurisdictions apply the Dominant Factor Test to determine if a contest is a lawful game of skill or unlawful game of chance. If skill determines the outcome more than 50 percent of the time, the contest is legal. The Dominant Factor Test generally relies on whether or not it is a “game of chance” or a “game of skill” and whichever is dominant is how the decision is made. [See Jonathan Hilton, Refusing to Fold: How Lawrence DiCristina Went Bust Fighting for a Novel Interpretation of the Illegal Gambling Business Act, 83 U. Cin. L. Rev. 1467, 75 (2015); see also, e.g., Town of Mount Pleasant v. Chimento, 737 S.E. 2d 830, 836 (S.C. 2012) (applying the “American Rule”)].The alternative to this is the Material Element Test which asks “whether the element of change is a factor that is material to the final result”. Hilton, supra note 10, 83 U. Cinn. L. Rev. at 1476; material element states include Alabama, Alaska, Hawaii, Missouri, New Jersey, New York, Oklahoma, Oregon, and Washington. Id. (citing Anthony N. Cabot, Glenn J. Light & Karl F. Rutledge, Alex Rodriguez, a Monkey, and the Game of Scrabble: The Hazard of Using Illogic to Define the Legality of Games of Mixed Skill and Chance, 57 Drake L. Rev. 383, 390 (2009)). In other words, these tests looks to see whether chance has “more than a mere incidental effect on the game.” Cabot et al., supra, 57 Drake L. Rev. 383, 390.
We believe that if courts apply either test, we should not be in violation of UIGEA because we do not allow any US based players to place a “bet” on any 3rd party play. Further, when and if we do launch our platform in the US there will be no random number generators used and all of the games will require skill and/or knowledge whereby all participants ability or likelihood to be able to win the game will be directly related to their skill in the game they are playing.
Accordingly, we plan to explore expansion of our esports online wagering platform into the US market place at the appropriate time.
Intellectual Property
We have not filed to register any patents, trade names or trademarks in any jurisdictions, but we do intend to file applications to register patents, tradenames or trademarks in the near future.
We are currently party to an exclusive software licensing agreement for our bet exchange software platform (the “Licensed Software”) with Swiss Interactive Software GmbH (“Swiss Interactive”), a company controlled by Yan Rozum, our Chief Technology Officer and one of our directors. See “Competitive Advantages/Operational Strengths — Licensed Technology/IP” above.
50
Employees
We currently have four full time employees, nine full time consultants and one part time consultant located in the following countries:
Country
|
|
No. of Employees/Consultants
|
|
Responsibilities
|
European Union
|
|
6
|
|
Technical and Marketing
|
Antigua and Barbuda
|
|
4
|
|
Customer Service and Administration
|
Canada
|
|
2
|
|
Administration
|
United States
|
|
2
|
|
Creative/marketing
|
None of these employees are represented by a labor union or subject to a collective bargaining agreement. We have never experienced a work stoppage and our management believes that our relations with employees are good.
Properties
Our executive and business offices are located at 170 Pater House, Psaila Street, Birkirkara, Malta, BKR 9077 where we sub-lease approximately 150 square feet of property in Birkirkara, Malta.
We have access to office and meeting space for a nominal fee, on an as-used basis, in Willemstad, Curacao.
The Company entered into a five year lease agreement with Polskie NieruchomoŚci Sp. Z.O.O. to rent office space starting on July 1, 2018 and terminating on November 20, 2022. For the year ending June 30, 2019 and 2018 the Company expensed $14,021 and $0, respectively, as general and administrative for rent. Minimum payments for successive years ending June 30, are as follows:
2020
|
|
|
52,130
|
2021
|
|
|
52,130
|
2022
|
|
|
52,130
|
2023
|
|
|
21,721
|
|
|
$
|
178,111
|
Legal Proceedings
From time to time, we are a defendant or plaintiff in various legal actions that arise in the normal course of business.
In September 2018, Boustead Securities, LLC (“Boustead”) notified us via letter of a claim that they were owed $192,664, as well as warrants to purchase 1,417,909 shares of our common stock as compensation for their acting as the placement agent for the sale of our securities between June 2017 and 2018. This matter was then brought to JAMS pursuant to an arbitration clause in the placement agent agreement entered into by the Company and Boustead. It is our position that we have paid Boustead in full for the services it provided to us. We have denied that we owe Boustead any additional cash or warrants and have filed motions to dismiss these claims as well as filed counterclaims against Boustead. We plan to continue to vigorously defend the Company against these claims.
The JAMS arbitration is scheduled for the end of January 2020.
On December 19, 2018, Mr. Bryan Whatley, filed the first amended complaint against the Company in the United States District Court in the District of Nevada for breach of contract in connection with its acting as a finder to assist the Company in finding potential investors. In their complaint, they sought damages in excess of $85,000 plus warrants to purchase shares of the Company’s common stock. The Company filed an answer to the first amended complaint denying the existence of a contract between the Company and Mr. Whatley, among other things. Management believes this claim to be without merit as it is management’s position that there was no contract. We plan to continue to vigorously defend the Company against this claim. The deadline for Mr. Whatley to respond to the Company’s answer was April 12, 2019, and no such response was filed. On April 23, 2019, the Company filed a motion to dismiss with the United States District Court of the State of Nevada. On August 27, 2019, the Company’s motion to dismiss the case was granted.
With the exception of the foregoing, we are not involved in any material disputes and do not have any material litigation matters.
51