The Evergreen Group, a private equity firm, agreed to purchase a popular Atari asset, the Backyard Sports franchise. The sale was made at a recent Atari assets auction. The acquisition consists of the Backyard Sports I.P., copyrights, game codes, registrations, patents, and all other assets linked with the Backyard Sports brand. Backyard Sports will now be operated through Epic Gear, LLC, The Evergreen Group's portfolio company.

"The Backyard Sports franchise is one of the most compelling youth sports game brands of all time. The acquisition is a key piece in our larger, overall sports and recreation portfolio strategy," The Evergreen Group manager, Jim Wagner, said.

The Evergreen Group focuses on acquiring brands, licenses, and even whole companies in the entertainment, sports, and new media markets. The company invests resources that includes working capital and strategic partnerships. The company expects the investment they have made to acquire Backyard Sports franchise will ignite profitability and growth in to its portfolio investments.

The Backyard Sports brand was introduced by Atari in 1997. Since then the franchise has distributed over 15 million copies internationally across multiple titles in sports.

"This property has demonstrated its popularity on the video game platforms over time. We are confident the brand will translate to mobile games, and extend to new categories as well," Wagner explained.