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On April 04 2013 07:08 Solarsail wrote:
If they are spending money with no expectation of return, why drop Blaze and Frost? They remain premier Korean teams and their value didn't decrease hugely.
Edit.
Apparently in LoL, teams and big sponsors can choose to go their seperate ways after the contract expires. More info on:
http://www.newsoflegends.com/index.php/blaze-and-frost-quit-azubu-3209/
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Thanks for summarizing what's generally known about Azubu. I tried to look it up a few months ago and got discouraged after their site yielded very little information.
At least everyone will know very little about Azubu together now, haha.
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(...)"after their contract expires"(...)
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On April 04 2013 07:25 AnomalySC2 wrote:Show nested quote +On April 04 2013 07:24 gosublade wrote:
"hurr durr, i dont understand, therefore money laundry durr" Have any insight into what exactly they do?
no, thats why I don't offer any.
User was warned for this post
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On April 04 2013 07:24 gosublade wrote:
"hurr durr, i dont understand, therefore money laundry durr"
dude... there seriously is nothing more annoying on the internet than this fucking "hurr durr" shit.
please don't do it again.... ever.
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Lets be realistic. They are throwing hundreds of thousands of dollars to the same eyeballs, over and over again, without actually making a return other than people knowing their name. This is money laundering.
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On April 04 2013 07:32 gosublade wrote:Show nested quote +On April 04 2013 07:25 AnomalySC2 wrote:On April 04 2013 07:24 gosublade wrote:
"hurr durr, i dont understand, therefore money laundry durr" Have any insight into what exactly they do? no, thats why I don't offer any.
So you know exactly as much as anyone else, you just decided to be a dick about it? Or is there anything else you're trying to say?
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On April 04 2013 07:06 mrRoflpwn wrote:
Azubu is clealyl owned by a bunch of shady people. But these people have a lot of money and they seem to enjoy e-sports so they spend money on it. I guess it is kind of a hobby for them? Rich people waste lots of money in weird places. I guess spending it here is better than crashing a lamborghini 5 hours after you buy it then deciding to buy another one because you can. Some times people just dont care about a return and want to have fun with their money.
TLDR: Rich people waste tons of money, dont know why people are expecting that Azubu wants to get a financial return on their money.
Rich people dont get rich by not expecting return on investments.
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Damn. Sponsors are too precious for that to happen in SC2 barring gross misconduct (missed payments etc)
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On April 04 2013 07:35 blackone wrote:Show nested quote +On April 04 2013 07:32 gosublade wrote:On April 04 2013 07:25 AnomalySC2 wrote:On April 04 2013 07:24 gosublade wrote:
"hurr durr, i dont understand, therefore money laundry durr" Have any insight into what exactly they do? no, thats why I don't offer any. So you know exactly as much as anyone else, you just decided to be a dick about it? Or is there anything else you're trying to say?
opposing slander is being a dick?
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On April 04 2013 07:38 RoyGBiv_13 wrote:Show nested quote +On April 04 2013 07:06 mrRoflpwn wrote:
Azubu is clealyl owned by a bunch of shady people. But these people have a lot of money and they seem to enjoy e-sports so they spend money on it. I guess it is kind of a hobby for them? Rich people waste lots of money in weird places. I guess spending it here is better than crashing a lamborghini 5 hours after you buy it then deciding to buy another one because you can. Some times people just dont care about a return and want to have fun with their money.
TLDR: Rich people waste tons of money, dont know why people are expecting that Azubu wants to get a financial return on their money. Rich people dont get rich by not expecting return on investments.
Depends on whether they view it as an investment or as a hobby.
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Thanks for writing this up. As many other people, I've also been wondering how Azubu is actually making any money. Your article is a nice summary on the subject.
And when I read articles like this, I sometimes wonder whether there is a single company in esports that isn't run by a bunch of shady persons. There seems to be no sustainable business model behind Azubu, which suggests the assumption that they're problably not going to be a longliving venture.
If you want to have more information about Lars Windhorst's "criminal record" and speak German you might aswell just check out his Wikipedia page. Almost half the text there is about the various trials and insolvencies he was involved in.
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On April 04 2013 07:33 sc2superfan101 wrote:Show nested quote +On April 04 2013 07:24 gosublade wrote:
"hurr durr, i dont understand, therefore money laundry durr" dude... there seriously is nothing more annoying on the internet than this fucking "hurr durr" shit. please don't do it again.... ever.
Especially when they add zero insight into the conversation.
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does it really matter? nothing last forever, sponsors comes and goes same as teams.
enjoy it while it last.
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On April 04 2013 07:43 nemonic wrote:
Thanks for writing this up. As many other people, I've also been wondering how Azubu is actually making any money. Your article is a nice summary on the subject.
And when I read articles like this, I sometimes wonder whether there is a single company in esports that isn't run by a bunch of shady persons. There seems to be no sustainable business model behind Azubu, which suggests the assumption that they're problably not going to be a longliving venture.
If you want to have more information about Lars Windhorst's "criminal record" and speak German you might aswell just check out his Wikipedia page. Almost half the text there is about the various trials and insolvencies he was involved in.
making a huge generalization of many multi-million dollar companies because of one or maybe two shady large sponsors? jeez
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On January 12 2013 10:22 dnosrc wrote:
The majority stockholder of the AZUBU Europe AG is AZUBU Europe Limited - a shell company located on the British Virgin Islands.
With Robert Hersov (a southafrican investor and entrepeneur) as Chairman of the Azubu Europe AG (seen at OGN Summer ceremony) its most likely his "baby".
http://www.teamliquid.net/forum/viewmessage.php?topic_id=296572¤tpage=32
Whoa O.O
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On April 04 2013 07:39 1Dhalism wrote:Show nested quote +On April 04 2013 07:35 blackone wrote:On April 04 2013 07:32 gosublade wrote:On April 04 2013 07:25 AnomalySC2 wrote:On April 04 2013 07:24 gosublade wrote:
"hurr durr, i dont understand, therefore money laundry durr" Have any insight into what exactly they do? no, thats why I don't offer any. So you know exactly as much as anyone else, you just decided to be a dick about it? Or is there anything else you're trying to say? opposing slander is being a dick?
I don't think the OP or the majority of the comments in the thread would classify legally as slander. In order for it to be slander, it has to be false. At this point, no one knows. For all we know, Azubu is a massive bitcoin mining operation.
Interesting OP, a lot of information about a company that has a financial impact but which has only one questionable product and murky structure. It's possible that this is deliberate, for various legitimate tax and legal purposes. (Depending on the company structure and location, tax records and SEC filings would shed a lot of light. Given a global headquarters in Germany and an apparently private structure (as opposed to publicly traded entities), I don't know what if any public declarations or filings are required.) There are some things that seem troubling, and there's a vibe similar to one I got when buying from a collectible coin and card store I used to visit. (It kept no transaction records, there was no register or computer, and they gave change from a large, literal "roll" (or "wad") of cash. Their prices were unbeatable. (As they often sold for a loss; when we compared manufacturer to store pricing of Magic cards via a friend that operated a gaming store, their price was exactly what WotC sells direct to stores. No retail markup at all. As far as gold and silver, they remained pretty much in line with spot prices.) And they would hand write a receipt for any amount, no questions asked, as our college SciFi club discovered to our glee. (Made getting reimbursed purchases easier, is all - when there is a per-transaction limit but funds are allocated in larger chunks. Rather than make many repeated trips, make one but with multiple transactions.)
That said, I don't know that Azubu or the store mentioned above are/were doing anything illicit/illegal. It is quite probable that everything is legitimate, and that Azubu is in the early phases of a long term plan which will have a return on investment that justifies the level of murkiness about the company. (A lot of eSports leagues seem to bank on the long term - MLG does well, but the people that invest into it right now are not looking for immediate returns.) And the underlying financials and business plans of companies in eSports are a very frequent topic of discussion - all of us as fans have a vested interest in seeing these enterprises pay off and are successful. We just would like to make sure it's not going to build a bubble and then pop like the housing market.
+ Show Spoiler +
Of course, that Coin and Collectable shop is closed these days. And a very nice Italian restaurant opened up the next block over. Great food but very low prices. The few times I ate there I think I heard mandolin music.
Honestly, Azubu doesn't bother me as much as Phillip Morris, Annheuser-Busch, or Brazzers entering eSports sponsorship would. Oh, all three are solid companies, but they have a different public perception. Azubu currently is "Who? What do they do?" while those three all have various vocal detractors for the legal products they offer.
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On April 04 2013 07:54 sLideSC2 wrote:Show nested quote +On April 04 2013 07:43 nemonic wrote:
Thanks for writing this up. As many other people, I've also been wondering how Azubu is actually making any money. Your article is a nice summary on the subject.
And when I read articles like this, I sometimes wonder whether there is a single company in esports that isn't run by a bunch of shady persons. There seems to be no sustainable business model behind Azubu, which suggests the assumption that they're problably not going to be a longliving venture.
If you want to have more information about Lars Windhorst's "criminal record" and speak German you might aswell just check out his Wikipedia page. Almost half the text there is about the various trials and insolvencies he was involved in. making a huge generalization of many multi-million dollar companies because of one or maybe two shady large sponsors? jeez
I don't know which "multi-million companies" you're refering to. And obviously I was exaggerating to make a point - teher are actually professional organization. It's yet hard to deny that the amount of unprofessionalism in (mostly non-Korean) e-sports organization is much higher than in most other industries.
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Robert Hersov is a major businessman/entrepeneur, he is even on the board of Forbes. So I don't doubt he is connected to various companies of which one is connected to Azubu. But being his baby.. Probably not. Still have to see the footage of the OGN Summer ceremony, and it would be interesting to see if Lars Windhorst is also there. Lars ran a couple of companies for Hersov, and Lars is the one that had trouble with financial regulations.
On April 04 2013 08:06 felisconcolori wrote:
I don't think the OP or the majority of the comments in the thread would classify legally as slander. In order for it to be slander, it has to be false. At this point, no one knows. For all we know, Azubu is a massive bitcoin mining operation.
Interesting OP, a lot of information about a company that has a financial impact but which has only one questionable product and murky structure. It's possible that this is deliberate, for various legitimate tax and legal purposes. (Depending on the company structure and location, tax records and SEC filings would shed a lot of light. Given a global headquarters in Germany and an apparently private structure (as opposed to publicly traded entities), I don't know what if any public declarations or filings are required.) There are some things that seem troubling, and there's a vibe similar to one I got when buying from a collectible coin and card store I used to visit. (It kept no transaction records, there was no register or computer, and they gave change from a large, literal "roll" (or "wad") of cash. Their prices were unbeatable. (As they often sold for a loss; when we compared manufacturer to store pricing of Magic cards via a friend that operated a gaming store, their price was exactly what WotC sells direct to stores. No retail markup at all. As far as gold and silver, they remained pretty much in line with spot prices.) ..
[...]
Honestly, Azubu doesn't bother me as much as Phillip Morrison, Annheuser-Busch, or Brazzers entering eSports sponsorship would. Oh, all three are solid companies, but they have a different public perception. Azubu currently is "Who? What do they do?" while those three all have various vocal detractors for the legal products they offer.
I really agree with this. I didn't write the OP to slander anything, it simply started with the question who, or what is Azubu? Curiosity sparked by the age of the company and the lack of information surrounding it.
It could be a venture capital, it could be a hobby of one of their investors.. But if it's an investment, how do they plan to earn money and when will they cut their losses? Because Azubu at this point looks like a sponsor, nothing more. Although normally sponsors invest money to get more brand recognition to sell their products, and everyone still wonders what product Abuzu sells 
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Errrr no one was dropped...... the contracts were up (due to expire), the teams and sponsor couldn't agree to terms on a new contract so the partnership ended.
Frost & Blaze signed with CJ Entus
Azuzu picked up TPA & TPS over in Taiwan (TPA won the season 2 World Championships for LoL)
EDIT: As far as the rest of it though, interesting to say the least. Whatever come of Azubu, hopefully no one is esports is hurt too bad if it all comes crashing down
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EPT
