About Me
After 6 years as an attorney, I founded FT Empire. I became a consultant for companies looking to expand into esports, video games, and the metaverse. I found myself educating nonendemic clients on gaming nuances.
I first worked on a series of deals including with FaZe Clan, and for the Travis Scott x Fortnite event Astronomical. I also consulted on gaming projects for traditional entertainment properties represented by a prestigious Beverly Hills Entertainment Firm.
In 2021 I was retained by Holodeck Media to lead day to day administrative and operational functions of business through New York, Los Angeles, and Dubai offices. I successfully brought on partners including ComicCon, SnapChat, GymShark, HyperX, and many more. Holodeck's hit podcast, The Business of Esports, is now the television show Game Changers on CNBC Arabia!
Around this time I also began teaching a collegiate esports business course at the University of California Irvine. UCI honored me in December 2022 with their award of distinction for my role as an educator and advisory board member. I similarly advised for Chapman University and the TGR Foundation.
At Riot Games I negotiated corporate partnerships by leveraging a robust catalog of gaming and entertainment IP including Valorant, League of Legends, and the Netflix Series: Arcane. I ended my work for Riot in 2024.
YouTube @JimmyBaratta
Head over to my YouTube to watch some fun shorts and long form content of the various panels, live streams, interviews, and hottakes I used to record each week.
I appreciate the sub!
Instagram: @JIMBODANKS
Join 30,000+ others who support my gaming content. I mostly post FPS gameplay and random memes, but have been known to dabble in Fortnite, Call of Duty, Fall Guys, Valorant, and more.
Thanks for the follow!
George R.R. Martin once said, “a reader lives 1,000 lifetimes.” A gamer does that and more. Over the years, I have lived through my favorite characters such as Nathan Drake, Commander Shepard, Henry of Skalitz, and Ezio Auditore. Whether it was a FPS like Halo, or an MMO-RPG like World of Warcraft, video games have always taken a hold of me. When you end up buying Drew Karpyshyn’s Mass Effect and Star Wars novels, you realize this isn’t a hobby, it’s your calling...and when you regularly drop $20 for a skin in Fortnite... that’s when you realize you may have a problem.