Morgan Sports Law start esports agency DotX Talent

Sports law firm Morgan Sports Law has entered the world of esports talent management, launching DotX Talent to provide the "highest level of career support" to professional players, broadcast talent, and content creators.

The details: Morgan's sports lawyers have teamed up with endemic esports aficionados for the new venture.

• DotX will offer standard agency services such as contract negotiation, sourcing brand deals, and general career development.
• The agency will make use of its ties to the law firm by providing legal support and advice, in-house invoice management, and social media strategy and publicity management.
• Its team includes Head of Partnerships Mitsouko Anderson (former NUEL and Code Red Esports) and Social Media Lead Richard Brown, as well as several unnamed talent management executives.

The rationale: Anderson told Hitmarker that "one of the first questions" she asked "Nick [Williams, Morgan Sports Law barrister] about the venture was, "Why not do something strictly legal related?"

• The sports law firm believe that taking the "professionalism and legal expertise they have in the sports space to areas where it would make the most positive impact in esports was more important than doing the potentially more 'obvious' or 'easy' option," Anderson explained.
• What separates DotX from other esports management firms, its head of partnerships believes, is that the firm is "taking the legal expertise that MSL has built up from working in the sports space and combining it with the specialist commercial knowledge people like Richard and myself have from working in esports."
• "One of the most compelling factors for joining DotX is that rather than having to choose between a lawyer and an agent, you can get access to both with the added assurance that they're working with your best interests in mind," Anderson concluded.

The hard truth: The esports agency landscape isn't always a pretty one, with accusations of large cuts being taken and negligence flying around both publicly and privately.

• The reputation of an agency that operates above board and takes a modest cut from its talent would likely spread like wildfire, positively, across the industry.
• There are dozens of talent management firms at this point, the choice for up-and-coming talent and players is becoming harder and harder. An additional selling point, like DotX has, may prove beneficial for those having to make a decision.