FaZe Clan Is Going Public—Just as the Creator Economy Shifts

FaZe Clan is on the verge of going public as a publicly traded company. You may be able to add FAZE to your portfolio later this year.

The company has a lot of brand deals, which is why FaZe Clan members compete in tournaments and play Call of Duty. FaZe Clan has helped sell everything from Nissan cars to the fried chicken at Mcdonald's.

The group is one of the top marketers of the year. Every marketing executive trying to forge a better connection with Gen Z has asked their assistant to try to get a deal done. There is a small sample of FaZe Clan's partners.

Lee Trink said that music was the driver of youth culture. Games are now a youth culture. It is unsurprising that someone who leads an esports media company would say that.

Trink was the president of Capitol Records, and others who built careers in the music industry are following in his footsteps. Jimmy Iovine helped lead a round of funding for FaZe Clan and invested in it. The artists are putting skin in the game. The group's new president and COO was a musician. There was a man who got in on the action and changed into a person.

Content creators and professional players make up the majority of FaZe Clan. Many of the content creators have a cultural cache that their competitors don't. The group is not new to controversy. A former member of FaZe Clan sued the company over contract disagreements and a current member repudiated the LGBTQ community over social media, but neither has deterred the company from attracting lucrative brand deals as a result.

The group announced a merger with a valuation of $1 billion a few months after getting the cover of Sports Illustrated. The company might not go public before the horn disappears. The SEC filing from FaZe Clan put it under $1 billion.

The turbulent 2022. economy will make it difficult for a well-funded marketing machine to tap into youth culture. The sheen has begun to fade from a once booming industry as creator focused startups lay off employees

Entrepreneurs on LinkedIn spread lists of companies formed during recessions as the threat of a downturn looms. Why can't you do it? FaZe Clan's situation becomes more difficult to navigate when they go public. The company could be an overhyped cautionary tale.