Online stock brokerage platform Zerodha's co-founder Nikhil Kamath has become the co-owner of a team in the Global e-Cricket Premier League (GEPL). According to reports, Nikhil Kamath teamed up with Ankit Nagori of Curefoods and Prashanth Prakash, partner at Accel, to own the Bengaluru franchise ahead of the second season of the 'Real Cricket' e-gaming tournament.
The new franchise is yet to be named.
JetSynthesys, creators of the popular game Real Cricket, announced the first franchise team ownership for Season 2 of (GEPL). “We are thrilled to welcome Nikhil Kamath, Ankit Nagori, and Prashant Prakash to the GEPL family. Their involvement is a testament to the growing recognition of e-cricket as a mainstream sport. With an expanded team format and new league guidelines, we are set to elevate the competitive spirit and excitement to new heights globally,” CEO Rajan Navani reportedly said.
The inaugural season of the GEPL was held in December last year with eight teams competing for the trophy. New York Apes, Dubai Vipers, Kolkata Hawks, and London Rhinos, with Dubai Vipers becoming the winners of Season 1.
There were over 200,000 registrations, with the top 64 players making it to the teams. Streamed on JioCinema, it was recorded a viewership of over 1.1 million minutes. The finale witnessed eight teams play-off each other using these 64 players.
Following a multiplatform reach of over 70 million, JetSynthesys announced the expansion of the GEPL.
The finals for GEPL S2 are scheduled in January 2025, reports said. The registrations for the season with a reported prize pool of Rs 3.5 crore began in August.