Nouns remain uncontracted
Nearly a month ago, it was announced that Nouns signed the former Gamin Gladiators / Squirtle Squad / Homeless team. Since then, the team should have been awarded a place in Barcelona to play in the FiReLEAGUE Global Finals, finished top 8 in ESL Challenger League, and went to the Americas RMR where they were just a few rounds away from going 3-2 and playing for a final spot at the Major.
For a team that was unceremoniously knocked out of groups during Fragadelphia 17, this was a step in the right direction. Nouns swooped in just as the squad had announced a GoFundMe to support the unsponsored group as they looked for a European bootcamp. Because of that support, NA had another team that was able to successfully repay all the donations from a crowdfunding campaign and now have some real support.
However, it appears that Nouns might not be around for so long. In an interview with HLTV and former Dust2 writer GSTK, Korey "SEMPHIS" Friesen explained that for Nouns, this was a "test run" for the organization as they wanted to see how it would go for the event and if the brand works in esports. SEMPHIS also explained that they wanted to gain further exposure for their sponsors and their crypto programs.
Further explaining the situation, SEMPHIS noted that he hasn't "actually fully talked to them about everything, but I know the idea was that if it's a good fit, they're willing to sponsor us more long term. If we made the Major, they said that they'd give us a long, extended bootcamp, and support us a lot more. Now that we didn't, I think we're going to have another talk and see what goes on. I definitely think these guys have a lot of potential in the scene to grow."
While the esports community at large has rejected cryptocurrency and NFT projects for various reasons, it appears that there has been almost no resistance to Nouns' entrance to NA CSGO. Whatever the reason for the community's current acceptance of Nouns, it can likely be boiled down to excitement over another organization entering into the space giving relief to another rising team in the community.
