LOS ANGELES -- As roughly 21,000 fans gathered at Staples Center in Los Angeles for the League of Legends World Championship, two of the countrys most well-known media influencers and businessmen, Peter Guber and Bruce Stein, sat in the Los Angeles Lakers suite in the arena.Guber and Stein are former executives at Sony Entertainment, and Guber is a co-owner of the Golden State Warriors, Los Angeles Dodgers and Los Angeles FC. Their time at the League of Legends World Championship affirmed what they believed to be true when their ownership group purchased one of the most popular esports teams in the United States, Team Liquid, several months ago.Guber says there were two reasons his new esports ownership group, aXiomatic, invested in the bourgeoning esports industry.One, Im attracted by the sport itself, which is a digital play, millennial play, its an over-the-top play in a sense, Guber told ESPN on Saturday night. Its an engagement that can be at home. You get the chance to get very close to the players, which is not as easy in other sports. You can participate in the sport easily; some of the games are very complicated -- like, wow -- but you can participate in it. You can follow the sport in a way thats unique and unique to that audience.According to research company Newzoo, esports has over 148 million fans, with an additional 144 million occasional viewers. Furthermore, within the United States, of the 20 million people who are esports fans, six million do not watch other traditional sports. Gubers second reason for investing comes from these demographics and similar numbers that he believes makes this investment worthwhile.I saw the psychographics and demographics of the audience, and Bruce and I talked about that; the idea that it isnt a fad, the median age keeps getting older, older and older as it goes through it and the bottom is also growing too, Guber said. So you get both things growing -- the tail and the head grows. Its a tsunami, it has that effect. Its an influencer, too -- it influences product, it influences sponsors, it influences behavior. It has all the components that makes it a viral activity.Talk of Gubers investment in the space began in early 2016 as he and his associates discussed a potential purchase of Team Liquid. The deal was finalized in late September, a day after the Philadelphia 76ers announced they had purchased Team Dignitas and Apex Gaming.The seeds of both deals, and perhaps other NBA interest in esports, were planted after a late-2015 NBA Board of Governors meeting, which featured a presentation on the growth of esports. Guber, for his part, says esports was already on his radar before that presentation.Really, it just drew out of my experience of being around Sony and running Sony and part of my experience of way back, he said, being an amateur radio operator and building my own rigs. [It] came out of my experience of recognizing that Im in the audience business. When you own the Dick Clark company with all of the attractions, when you own sports teams, big sports teams, and sports media companies, youre in the entertainment business.Youre engaging audiences. Thats what your job is, to engage audiences, and when you see an audience that is engaged as this, its magnetic, its exciting and you want to try and be a part of it.While Guber did not say exactly why his deal with Liquid took the better part of a year to complete, he did say that he and his associates felt it was best to take it slow before moving into the esports officially.Bruce and I have a view: You can put all the ingredients together and if you take it out of the oven too soon, its chocolate pudding, he said. If you leave it in the oven enough, you get a soufflé. Were in the soufflé business.Out of multiple options possible, Guber and Stein both say Liquid was the obvious option for a number of reasons: brand authenticity, popularity and the willingness of the organization to think outside the box with the deal to be purchased.The [Team Liquid] brand was incredibly strong with gamers who view authenticity as valuable, Stein said. Its a very valuable and authentic brand.Two, management: [Liquid co-CEOs] Steve [Arhancet] and Victor [Goossens] were really important to this. When you have short-term player contracts as a sport, it has in almost every game, you have to have a very responsive group that can deal with the changes. Steve and Victor were the two people who stuck out to us as partners that we could be invested with both in time, energy and resources over the long haul.Guber and Steins group has chosen to retain Arhancet, formerly of the Curse Gaming esports team which merged with Team Liquid in late 2014, and ?Goossens, the original founder of the Team Liquid StarCraft clan in 2000. The 76ers instead moved the Team Dignitas and Apex Gaming founding members, Michael ODEE ODell and Michael Slan, to operations manager positions.When asked why aXiomatic decided to keep Goossens and Arhancet in their current positions, Guber laughed.Seventy-sixers, Warriors, 76ers, Warriors, Guber joked, in reference to Golden States rising success in recent seasons. You do the math.Steve and Victor are progamers at heart, Stein said. If we lost a drop of the authenticity, there would be brand diminishment. Our intention is to keep every bit of the authenticity and add best practices from other areas. I think we want to take what Steve and Victor have done, acknowledge the dynamic that has changed in the business [money and other management], and add an ownership group from NextVR, Dick Clark Enterprises, every sort of imaginable traditional business and bring those practices to the sport. Thats what we add.As far as team management, players and constructing it, were advisers and partners of Steve and Victor, but thats what we think of it, and were following their lead in that regard.Joining Stein and Guber in their endeavor is Ted Leonsis, former AOL CEO and current owner of the Washington Wizards, Washington Capitals?and the Verizon Center; and Hall of Fame point guard Earvin Magic Johnson.[Ted is] a leader in digital technologies and software, he owns the Washington Capitals and the Wizards and a whole bunch of other sports teams, too. Hes just giant and over the top, Guber said. Hes an unbelievable leader with resources, hes a major participant and player, a full owner and partner in this, and his leadership, strengths and talent is going to be fundamental to us being successful.Moving forward, Guber says aXiomatic isnt just interested in owning an esports team. Guber compares his ambitions to that of what he has done with the Warriors since the purchase by him and majority owner Joe Lacob in 2010. Since the purchase, the team won a NBA championship in 2015 and is planning to open a new stadium in San Francisco by the 2018-19 season.I would say that [aXiomatic] should become a platform for the elements that are center and surround [esports], whether its engagement of venues, merchandise, peripherals or products that support the teams, Guber said. 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KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- The trend in the NFL over the past decade has been away from the bell-cow running backs of the 1970s and `80s, instead keeping fresh legs and healthy players on the field.Andy Reid has been doing it longer than that.As the Chiefs prepare for their season opener Sunday with a four-headed backfield of Jamaal Charles, Charcandrick West, Spencer Ware and Knile Davis, they are doing so with the understanding that all of them will get ample opportunities to make plays in Reids offense.Its really never been a problem, Reid said of distributing the carries. Ive done that a number of years; before I came here I did it. So well find a way to get it in their hands.It could be easier in the opener against San Diego with Charles still working his way back from last seasons ACL surgery. He participated in practice Wednesday, but Reid has said its a stretch that the four-time Pro Bowl running back will make it on the field this week.Still, that leaves a capable trio of West, Ware and Davis to handle the ball.West and Ware combined for more than 1,000 yards and 10 touchdowns last season, most of them after Charles went down in Week 5. And they have complementary skillsets that give the Kansas City offense another unique twist for which defensive coordinators must prepare.Perhaps it wasnt surprising that they worked so well in tandem.Only once in his head coaching career has Reid had a running back carry more than 300 times in a season, and that came with Duce Staley in 1999 -- his first season with the Eagles. In fact, there was rarely a running back that came close to that total the following 16 years.Instead, it was more common for Reid to split carries among two or three options.Take the 2003 season, when the Eagles went 12-4 and made it to the NFC title game. Staley had 96 carries for 463 yards, Brian Westbrook had 117 carries for 613 yards, and Correll Buckhalter led the way in attempts with 126 carries for 542 yards. The trio also combined for 20 touchdowns rushing and seven receiving.Five times Reid has had at least two running backs wiith 100 or more carries in a season.ddddddddddddThats the thing about our coaching staff: They dont show favoritism, West said following Wednesdays morning walk-through. The best man is going to play and we respect that.West said it is never predetermined how the carries are split up going into a game. Reid and new offensive coordinators Brad Childress and Matt Nagy will instead go with the hot hand.Its commonsense, West said. I mean, we have smart coaches. If someone is rolling, were going to keep them rolling. I think that way even if Im on the sideline.That approach should, in theory, allow the Chiefs running backs to establish some sort of rhythm, which is usually the biggest drawback of going with a committee method.I wish I could put them all out on the field, Chiefs running backs coach Eric Bieniemy said with a smile. We come out with a personnel group and call it `Cadillac or `Jet personnel and get them all out there. Lets just go line up and play ball.Well, that probably wont be feasible this week.The Chiefs are taking a slow-and-steady approach to getting Charles, who missed all four of their preseason games, into the mix. They would rather have him for the long haul than Week 1.Meanwhile, West has been nursing a pesky elbow injury, though hes expected to play Sunday.On many teams, having two running backs hobbled for the opener would be reason to fret. But considering Reids history and their committee approach, it hardly seems like a reason to worry.Im very blessed and fortunate to have guys that understand what it takes to be a pro, Bieniemy said. They do a great job of understanding all the rules of things thats going to help them be the best player that they can be.Game notes Reid said everyone on the 53-man roster participated in practice Wednesday, including LB Tamba Hali (knee). He sat out most of training camp and all four preseason games.---AP NFL website: www.pro32.ap.org and www.twitter.com/AP-NFL Black China NFL Jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys Cheap Jerseys From China NFL Jerseys China Wholesale NFL Autographed Jerseys Wholesale Throwback Jerseys Cheap Jerseys Online ' ' '