Optx welcome CGS CEO Dale Hopkins

Friday, the CGS announced Andy Reif had reached the end of his contract with the Championship Gaming Series and in his place, former G4 Chief Operations Officer, Dale Hopkins, would be stepping into the role of CEO.

From the CGS's statement on Friday:
Following a successful 2008 season, Andy Reif has ended his initial two-season contract with Championship Gaming Series and is leaving the league to pursue other opportunities. Dale Hopkins, previously the chief operating officer for G4 Network, will take over Reif’s duties as head of the league. CGS would like to thank Andy Reif for his dedication and hard work in launching the company.
So who is in charge now? Well, Dale Hopkins is!!

From her interview on thecgs.com:
CGS: Are you much of a gamer yourself?
DH: It’s funny, I didn’t have much exposure to video games until we launched G4. When we first started the network, I didn’t have a single video game in the house but now we have an Xbox, PS3 and Wii at home. My son and I first got into Madden ‘02 and we play that a lot. Every August our anticipation grows for the latest version.

CGS: It sounds like you’re thrilled to join CGS. What are your thoughts on professional gaming? What excites you most about this new opportunity?
DH: I believed strongly that gamers deserved their own television network, and I was proud to be a part of the team that helped create G4. Gamers also deserve their own sports league and I’m looking forward to joining all of the talented people here at CGS. Our goals for the league remain the same: turning our professional gamers into superstars and making CGS a familiar sports property to people around the world.

About Dale Hopkins

Dale is a gaming entertainment veteran. A founding member of teams that launched four successful start-up cable networks (CNBC, E! Entertainment Television, The Style Network, G4) and co-founder of both E! Online and iWin.com. Hopkins launched her career at CBS, rising from an account executive to the national sales manager. She was one of the first executives NBC hired to build CNBC, where she served as vice president of sales.

In the '90s, Hopkins launched E! Entertainment Television and The Style Network as a member of both company’s operating committees and management teams. Additionally, she co-founded E! Online, now one of the media industry’s top entertainment website properties.

Following E! Networks, Hopkins was president and co-founder of Iwin.com, an incentive-based entertainment company focusing on online games. The online game portal was subsequently sold to Vivendi Universal.

Most of us know her from her career at G4. Hopkins served as the chief operating officer of G4, where she was responsible for the management of 100 percent of the company’s revenues. Additionally, Hopkins oversaw all day-to-day operations of the network, including finance, public relations, human resources, and business and legal affairs. She orchestrated a major redesign of G4’s website (g4tv.com), increasing page views by 40 percent, and directed the site’s daily online operations, as well as those of the broadband channel.


The San Francisco Optx team and the Optx community welcome Hopkins to the CGS team as we look forward to Season 3!