South Fayette grad at helm of Pittsburgh esports team
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Rob Lee’s interest in films and media developed at South Fayette High School, where he was a prominent member of several media classes. He created various internet skits under the pseudonym “Asian Rob” while hosting the morning TV show at the high school. This sparked his interest in content creation and working as an on-camera personality.
After graduation in 2011, Lee attended Full Sail University in Winter Park, Fla., earning a bachelor of science degree in film. He moved to California where he juggled simultaneous internships as a content creator at Shaun White Enterprises and as a content producer at Super Creative Production Co. He went on to produce and cohost various esports podcasts as a mentee of Kevin Pereira’s — “Attack of the Show” — production company. Esports is most commonly a multiplayer video game competition. “Attack of the Show” featured game coverage, interviews and opinion pieces about the industry.
Lee became a production assistant to Riot Games NA LCS broadcast. During a chance meeting, he impressed Alexander Müller, the owner of SK Gaming, and was offered a job as an internet host and video producer for SK.
Lee later became the general manager and creative director of Misfits, building their “League of Legends,” “CounterStrike,” “Global Offensive” and “Halo” teams. He rebranded the Misfits as the Los Angeles Renegades, and assisted Misfits EU, the sister to the Renegades, in achieving League of Legends European Championship (LEC) status— a top tier in Europe. Lee continued his esports career with Immortals, acting as their creative director.
He recently returned to the area as CEO and owner of the Pittsburgh Knights, the premiere esports team for the city of Pittsburgh.
“Just like any sports team before us — the Steelers, Pirates, Penguins and Riverhounds — we’re here to represent the black and gold in virtual space,” said Lee. “We are pro gaming for Pittsburgh.”
Like the Steelers’ Super Bowl trophies, Lee hopes to bring trophies back to his offices on North Shore Drive. The Pittsburgh Steelers are investors in the Knights, providing the infrastructure of a traditional sports team.
The Knights, who recently filmed a commercial shown on WQED, have formed partnerships with SmileDirectClub, Sheetz, HyperX Headsets, Totino’s Pizza Rolls and Madden NFL.
“This is the sports team of the new generation,” said Lee. “We’re just keeping up competitive tradition for Yinzers by taking the best practices from traditional sports and applying them to esports.”
For more information, visit www.knights.gg.