Esports Entertainment Group escapes delisting amid rumoured CEO exit

Esports Entertainment Group said that on 30 November the Nasdaq Hearing Panel granted EEG’s request to continue listing on the exchange, subject to a host of compliance requirements.

By 7 February 2023, the business must have a minimum bid price of $1.00 (£0.82/€0.95) for a period of ten consecutive days in order to meet the Panel’s compliance criteria.

As of market close on 5 December, Esports Entertainment Group traded at $0.12 per share. This means that EEG will have less than two months to increase the business’ share price more than eightfold in order to be considered in compliance.  

In addition, the company must show evidence – by 31 March 2023 – that it has a minimum of $2.5m in stockholder equity. The business currently has a market capitalisation of $8.6m.

EEG will also have to comply with a number of other conditions and requirements that are not yet publicly disclosed.  

Reported Esports Entertainment Group CEO change

According to the Sharpr newsletter, the Esports Entertainment Group board has asked long-time CEO Grant Johnson to resign. While the operator has not officially confirmed Johnson’s departure, Sharpr noted that emails to his former company address now come back undelivered.

Esports Entertainment Group has faced a turbulent time in recent years, with brand closures, a debt default and large operating losses. In May, within the business’ quarterly financial report, EEG said that there had been “substantial doubt” about its ability to continue as a going concern for a least a year.

In October, the group announced that it was effectively at the mercy of an unnamed creditor after the business defaulted on its debt.

This was followed by news in November that the business would be shutting its RedZone and Sport Nation brands in the UK market.

SportNation and RedZone both said the sites were “closing for a variety of reasons including the economics of operating a small igaming business in the UK market”.