Esports org Andbox announces rebranding to NYXL
NYXLNorth American esports organization Andbox has rebranded as NYXL, the shortened name of its Overwatch League team, New York Excelsior.
The move will affect the organization’s Valorant roster, which will compete under the name NY Fury, and marks another step in the organization’s efforts to become “New York’s next global entertainment brand.”
The earliest signs of the change were seen on March 20, when Andbox changed its Twitter handle from “@andbox_official” to “@NYXL”. The latter belonged to the New York Excelsior (often shortened to NYXL) Overwatch League team, whose Twitter handle is now “@NYExcelsior”.
https://twitter.com/NYXL/status/1506299694531723264
The rebranding to NYXL comes just two months after Andbox appointed award-winning writer and businessman James Frey as their new CEO – a move that signaled the company’s ambition to transform from a purely competitive organization to an entertainment brand.
“Our team is dedicated to building New York’s esports programs, discovering new creators, and creating new content and entertainment that will showcase our home city,” NYXL CCO Mitchell Smith said. “We see NYXL and esports as an important step in growing New York’s economy and we are excited to build this sector and create large-scale events that bring people from around the world into the City.
“We are honored to work with Mayor Adams, Commissioner del Castillo and their teams to secure New York City’s rightful place as the global epicenter for gaming and esports.”
Founded in 2017 by Venture fund Sterling.VC, Andbox is the largest New York-based esports organization. In announcing the rebranding, NYXL pledged to make an investment “in the high-seven figures” into New York city’s gaming community over the next 12 months, including in the construction of the company’s headquarters, XLHQ, in Manhattan.
NYXL has also announced their own young creator project, called YXL, aimed at finding and supporting “the next generation of New York digital content creators”, pledging $500,000 to the initiative.
Sources told Dexerto there are no plans to rebrand the New York Subliners, the organization’s Call of Duty League franchise team.