Rick Fox Rumored to Be Ousted from Echo Fox
Following the sale of Echo Fox’s slot in the LCS to Evil Geniuses last week, many thought the drama around Echo Fox had finally come to an end.
It appears we’re not entirely out of the woods yet, however as Rick Fox is rumored to be soon ousted from the org he founded with his son.
E Tu Investors?
The news follows rumors last month that nearly 80% of the partners and investors in Echo Fox wanted Rick Fox removed from his position in the org. A move he denied at the time but clearly is becoming more and more confirmed.
In a letter, reported on by Jacob Wolf at ESPN, the allegations and reasoning for his ousting range from laying off employees who were trying to properly shut down the orgs operations, to trying to poach employees for a new venture.
This could be with LA Times owner Patrick Soon-Shiong, who Fox allegedly owes over 2.5 million dollars to and has publicly commented on getting a business proposition going with in the past.
The employees he allegedly tried to poach include Jared Jeffries, Jake Fyfe, and Haley Hey, though Fyfe no longer works for Echo Fox anyways.
The partners also alleged he tried to push the offer through with Dick Clarke Productions for their LCS spot over a shareholder-preferred bid by fellow esports team Evil Geniuses, a move that ultimately fell through.
EG acquired the spot last week for approximately $33 million, 10% more than their initial offering after Riot had to step in and take over the process, following the collapse of a deal with Kroenke Entertainment.
Of the $33 million, Riot took $2.5 million to pay outstanding debts the org owed to the league.
Personal Take
After months of drama and he-said-she-said (or in this case, he-said-he-said), this appears to be the final nail in the proverbial coffin for not only Rick Fox, but Echo Fox.
The report noted that the staff fired by Fox were supposed to help wind things down for the team. This sounds less like just their league operations were ending but all their esports teams.
Given their only other real presence is in fighting games, this move isn’t surprising given their failure to hold on to the LCS spot.
I’ve long talked about how I’d assumed Echo Fox would be the first team kicked out of the LCS. The team has long struggled to gain traction for itself beyond fan loyalty to Rick Fox. Also, their rosters have never been successful beyond a third-place finish in Spring 2018 Playoffs.
That team lived and died by the popularity of Rick and, without him, the brand is nothing to many fans beyond those loyal to legendary fighting game player Sonic Fox.
Hopefully, some good can come out of this with EG’s new squad and Fox perhaps finding a place as a brand ambassador for another team. The days of the Rick Fox-led Echo Fox are coming to a disappointing close.
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