Louisville, Kentucky--(Newsfile Corp. - June 3, 2022) - Champion Gaming Group Inc. (TSXV: WAGR) (formerly, Prime City One Capital Corp.) ("Champion Gaming" or the "Company") announced today a number of management and board changes, effective June 3, 2022. Messrs. Ken Hershman resigned as the Chief Executive Officer, John Barkeley resigned as the Chief Financial Officer and Corporate Secretary, Sean O'Leary resigned as the President, Frank Frigo resigned as the Chief Innovation Officer and Paxton Baker resigned as a director, effective immediately. The Company wishes to thank Messrs. Hershman, Barkeley, Frigo and Baker for their contributions to the Company and wish them every success in future endeavors.
The Company is also pleased to announce it has appointed Messrs. Graham Simmonds as Chief Executive Officer and a director of the Company, Cameron Wickham as the Interim Chief Financial Officer and Corporate Secretary, and Ken Hershman and Sean O'Leary will continue to serve as directors of the Company with Ken Hershman appointed as Vice-Chairman of the board.
Ken Hershman, Vice-Chairman and former CEO, stated, "On behalf of Champion Gaming, I would like to thank Mr. Barkeley and Mr. Baker for their valuable contributions to the Company and we wish them success in their future endeavors. We are pleased to retain Mr. O'Leary as a director and Mr. Frigo as an advisor to the Company who were co-founders of EdjSports LLC that Champion Gaming acquired through the reverse takeover completed in December 2021. Mr. O'Leary is a founder of multiple companies offering proprietary content to both business to business and consumer markets with perspective that strengthens our board. Furthermore, continuing to leverage Mr. Frigo's expertise as an advisor - one of the 'Founding Fathers of Football Analytics' as the Ringer once dubbed him - will serve us well as we continue to build unique and proprietary applications for bettors, fans, and media."
Mr. Hershman added, "Mr. Simmonds is one of the co-founders of Champion Gaming and he has worked closely with the Company and me over the past 18-months in structuring the reverse takeover and advising on a number of corporate and capital markets initiatives. Given his previous experience as a public markets CEO and his extensive background in online gambling, the board of directors and I determined that his leadership of the Company would be both ideal and appropriate to steer us going forward as we build a leading sports content and data intelligence business."
Graham Simmonds, CEO, stated, "I am pleased to become more involved with Champion Gaming on a day-to-day basis. These management changes will allow for our key team members to remain involved with the Company as we embark on a significant growth trajectory heading into football season, which will be the ultimate focus of the Company over the next few months. This also allows the Company to develop a more efficient operating structure and will allow us to focus our resources on our core assets and the development of additional content and distribution opportunities to support these endeavors."
Brief biographies of the new management are as follows:
Mr. Simmonds is an entrepreneur with a diverse background in consumer-driven businesses. He has founded and taken public three companies over the past 15 years in the gaming, cannabis and financial technology sectors. Mr. Simmonds has over 20 years of general experience in public company management and business development projects within the gaming, technology and other regulated sectors. Mr. Simmonds developed and launched the first in-home digital video horse racing service in North America and is a former Director and Partner in eBet Technologies Inc., a licensed pari-mutuel wagering operator and software developer for the online horse racing industry in the United States. eBet Technologies Inc. was successfully sold to Sportech PLC in December of 2012. He has previously been licensed/registered with a number of horse racing and gaming commissions in the United States and Canada. Mr. Simmonds is the founder and former Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of CordovaCann Corp., a Canadian-domiciled diversified cannabis investment company listed on the CSE; and DealNet Capital Corp., a consumer finance company formerly listed on the TSXV. Mr. Simmonds currently serves as the Chairman of Plant-Based Investment Corp. and Bhang Inc.; and as a Director and Chief Executive Officer of Aion Therapeutic Inc. and Baymount Incorporated.
Mr. Wickham has served as a Director of Champion Gaming since March 2021. Mr. Wickham has over nine years of experience in public company management and has been involved in a number of going public transactions in Canada and the United States in the cannabis, consumer finance and other regulated sectors. He specializes in navigating early-stage financing structures, M&A and ongoing management of public companies having significant experience in managing corporate finance, audit and legal teams. Mr. Wickham currently serves as Executive Vice-Chair and Chief Executive Officer of Delota Corp., an established cannabis and vape retailer; and as Chief Financial Officer of Baymount Incorporated. Mr. Wickham began his career in investment banking after obtaining his Bachelor of Commerce from Queen's University.
About Champion Gaming
Champion Gaming is a sports content, data and analytics company that provides predictive and prescriptive analytical models and win probability applications and statistics in the sports industry for teams, media, fans, and bettors. The sports analytical and data solutions currently offered by Champion to its customers include: a fully customized probability engine, interactive sports matchup models, spread and over/under distributions, and sports statistics and historical data statistics.
Further information on Champion Gaming can be found at www.championgaming.com. Ongoing financial and disclosure documents can be found on SEDAR at www.sedar.com.
Forward-Looking Statements
Certain statements contained in this press release constitute forward-looking information. These statements relate to future events or future performance of the Company. The use of any of the words "could", "intend", "expect", "believe", "will", "may", "projected", "estimated" and similar expressions and statements relating to matters that are not historical facts are intended to identify forward-looking information and are based on the Company's current belief or assumptions as to the outcome and timing of such future events. Actual future results may differ materially. In particular, this release contains forward-looking information relating to the ability of the Company to successfully manage the risks inherent in pursuing business opportunities in the online gaming industry, and the ability of the Company to obtain qualified staff, equipment and services in a timely and cost-efficient manner to develop its business, the state of the capital markets, and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Various assumptions or factors are typically applied in drawing conclusions or making the forecasts or projections set out in forward-looking information. Those assumptions and factors are based on information currently available to the parties. Forward-looking information necessarily involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied in such forward-looking statements. Such risks and factors include, but are not limited to, the risk that the Company's management is unable to obtain qualified staff, equipment and services in a timely and cost-efficient manner to develop its business. The forward-looking information contained in this release is made as of the date hereof and the parties are not obligated to update or revise any forward-looking information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by applicable securities laws. Because of the risks, uncertainties and assumptions contained herein, investors should not place undue reliance on forward-looking information. The foregoing statements expressly qualify any forward-looking information contained herein.
For further information, please contact:
Champion Gaming Group Inc.
Graham Simmonds
Chief Executive Officer
T: 416.843.2881
E: info@championgaming.com
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