As filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on July 21, 2020

Registration No. 333- ________

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

WASHINGTON, D.C. 20549

FORM S-8

REGISTRATION STATEMENT

UNDER

THE SECURITIES ACT OF 1933

ALLIED ESPORTS ENTERTAINMENT, INC.

(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

Delaware	82-1659427
(State or other jurisdiction of incorporation or organization)	(I.R.S. Employer Identification Number)

17877 Von Karman Avenue, Suite 300

Irvine, California 92614

Tel: (949) 225-2600

(Address of principal executive offices)

ALLIED ESPORTS ENTERTAINMENT, INC. 2019 EQUITY INCENTIVE PLAN

(Full title of the plan)

Mr. Frank Ng

Chief Executive Officer

17877 Von Karman Avenue, Suite 300

Irvine, California 92614

Tel: (949) 225-2600

(Name, address, including zip code, and telephone number, including area code, of agent for service)

Copy to:

Bradley Pederson, Esq.

Maslon LLP

3300 Wells Fargo Center

90 South Seventh Street

Minneapolis, Minnesota 55402

Telephone: (612) 672-8341

Fax: (612) 672-8341

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, or a smaller reporting company. See definition of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerate filer” and “smaller reporting company,” and “emerging growth company” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act. (Check one):

Large accelerated filer	☐	Accelerated filer	☒
Non-accelerated filer	☐	Smaller reporting company	☒
		Emerging growth company	☒

If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act. ☐

CALCULATION OF REGISTRATION FEE

Title of Securities to be Registered	Amount to be Registered (1)		Proposed Maximum Offering Price Per Share (2)		Proposed Maximum Aggregate Offering Price (2)		Amount of Registration Fee
Common stock, par value $0.0001 per share (“Common Stock”)		3,463,305	$	2.08	$	7,203,674.40	$	935.04

(1)

Pursuant to Rule 416(a) of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”), this Registration Statement shall also include any additional shares of Common Stock that become issuable under the Registrant’s 2019 Equity Incentive Plan (the “Plan”) in respect of the securities identified in the above table by reason of any stock dividend, stock split, recapitalization or other similar transaction effected without the Registrant’s receipt of consideration that increase the number of the outstanding shares of Common Stock.

(2)

Estimated in accordance with Rule 457(c) solely for purposes of calculating the registration fee. The maximum price per shares of common stock and the maximum aggregate offering price are based on the average of the $2.11 (high) and $2.04 (low) sale price of the registrant’s common stock as reported on the Nasdaq Capital Market on July 15, 2020, which date is within five business days prior to filing this Registration Statement.

PART I

INFORMATION REQUIRED IN THE SECTION 10(a) PROSPECTUS

The documents containing the information specified in Part I of Form S-8 will be sent or given to plan participants as specified by Rule 428(b)(1) promulgated by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) under the Securities Act. Such documents need not be filed with the SEC either as part of this Registration Statement or as prospectuses or prospectus supplements pursuant to Rule 424 under the Securities Act. These documents and the documents incorporated by reference into this Registration Statement pursuant to Item 3 of Part II of this Registration Statement, taken together, constitute a prospectus that meets the requirements of Section 10(a) of the Securities Act.

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PART II

INFORMATION REQUIRED IN THE REGISTRATION STATEMENT

Item 3. Incorporation of Documents by Reference.

The SEC allows us to “incorporate by reference” information into this Registration Statement, which means that we can disclose important information to you by referring you to another document filed separately with the SEC. The information incorporated by reference is considered to be part of this Registration Statement, and later information that we file with the SEC will automatically update this Registration Statement. We incorporate by reference: 

(a) Our prospectus, dated June 11, 2020, filed pursuant to Rule 424(b) under the Securities Act, in connection with the Company’s registration statement on Form S-1, as amended (File No. 333- 237977);

(b)	Our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2019, filed on March 16, 2020, and as amended on Form 10-K/A filed March 17, 2020;
(c)	Our Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended March 31, 2010 filed on May 11, 2020;

(c) Our Current Reports on Form 8-K filed with the Commission on January 21, 2020, February 26, 2020, April 1, 2020, April 10, 2020, April 30, 2020, May 7, 2020, May 22, 2020, June 8, 2020, June 10, 2020 and July 1, 2020; and

(d) The description of our Common Stock contained in the Registration Statement on Form S-1 filed on September 18, 2017 (File No. 333-220516), under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”), including any amendment or report filed for the purpose of updating such description.

All other documents filed by the Company with the SEC pursuant to Sections 13(a), 13(c), 14 and 15(d) of the Exchange Act subsequent to the date of this Registration Statement and prior to the filing of a post-effective amendment to this Registration Statement that indicates that all securities offered hereunder have been sold or which deregisters all securities then remaining unsold, shall be deemed to be incorporated by reference in this Registration Statement and to be a part hereof from the date of filing of such documents. In this Registration Statement, these documents, and the documents enumerated above, are referred to as the “incorporated documents.”

Any statement contained in a document incorporated or deemed to be incorporated by reference herein shall be deemed to be modified or superseded for purposes of this Registration Statement to the extent that a statement contained herein or in any subsequently filed document that also is deemed to be incorporated by reference herein modifies or supersedes such statement. Any such statement so modified or superseded shall not be deemed, except as so modified or superseded, to constitute a part of this Registration Statement.

Under no circumstances will any information furnished under Items 2.02 or 7.01 of Current Report on Form 8-K be deemed incorporated herein by reference unless such Form 8-K expressly provides to the contrary.

Item 4. Description of Securities.

Not applicable.

Item 5. Interests of Named Experts and Counsel.

Not applicable.

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Item 6. Indemnification of Directors and Officers.

Section 102 of the Delaware General Corporation Law, or the “DGCL,” permits a corporation to eliminate the personal liability of its directors to the corporation or its stockholders for monetary damages for a breach of fiduciary duty as a director, except where the director breached his or her duty of loyalty, failed to act in good faith, engaged in intentional misconduct or knowingly violated a law, authorized the payment of a dividend or approved a stock repurchase in violation of Delaware corporate law or obtained an improper personal benefit. Our Certificate of Incorporation provides that no director shall be personally liable to us or our stockholders for monetary damages for any breach of fiduciary duty as a director, notwithstanding any provision of law imposing such liability, except to the extent that the DGCL prohibits the elimination or limitation of liability of directors for breaches of fiduciary duty.

Section 145 of the DGCL provides that a corporation has the power to indemnify a director, officer, employee or agent of the corporation and certain other persons serving at the request of the corporation in related capacities against expenses (including attorneys’ fees), judgments, fines and amounts paid in settlements actually and reasonably incurred by the person in connection with an action, suit or proceeding to which he or she is or is threatened to be made a party by reason of such position, if such person acted in good faith and in a manner he or she reasonably believed to be in or not opposed to the best interests of the corporation, and, in any criminal action or proceeding, had no reasonable cause to believe his or her conduct was unlawful, except that, in the case of actions brought by or in the right of the corporation, no indemnification shall be made with respect to any claim, issue or matter as to which such person shall have been adjudged to be liable to the corporation unless and only to the extent that the Court of Chancery or other adjudicating court determines that, despite the adjudication of liability but in view of all of the circumstances of the case, such person is fairly and reasonably entitled to indemnification for such expenses which the Court of Chancery or such other court shall deem proper.

Our Certificate of Incorporation, as amended, provides that the Company shall indemnify all persons whom it may indemnify pursuant to Section 145 of DGCL. Further, expenses (including attorneys’ fees) incurred by an officer or director of the Company in defending any civil, criminal, administrative, or investigative action, suit or proceeding for which such officer or director may be entitled to indemnification under our Certificate of Incorporation, as amended, shall be paid by the Company in advance of the final disposition of such action, suit or proceeding upon receipt of an undertaking by or on behalf of such director or officer to repay such amount if it shall ultimately be determined that he is not entitled to be indemnified by the Company.

Our Bylaws also provide that the Company shall indemnify any person who was or is a party or is threatened to be made a party to any threatened, pending or completed action, suit or proceeding, whether civil, criminal, administrative or investigative (other than an action by or in the right of the Company) by reason of the fact that he/she is or was a director, officer, employee or agent of the Company, or is or was serving at the request of the Company as a director, officer, employee or agent of another corporation, partnership, joint venture, trust or other enterprise, against expenses (including attorneys’ fees), judgments, fines and amounts paid in settlement actually and reasonably incurred by him /her in connection with such action, suit or proceeding if he/she acted in good faith and in a manner he/she reasonably believed to be in or not opposed to the best interests of the Company, and, with respect to any criminal action or proceeding, had no reasonable cause to believe his/her conduct was unlawful. The termination of any action, suit or proceeding by judgment, order, settlement, conviction, or upon a plea of nolo contendere or its equivalent, shall not, of itself, create a presumption that the person did not act in good faith and in a manner which he/she reasonably believed to be in or not opposed to the best interests of the Company, and, with respect to any criminal action or proceeding, had reasonable cause to believe that his/her conduct was unlawful.

Our Bylaws further provide that the Company shall indemnify any person who was or is a party, or is threatened to be made a party to any threatened, pending or completed action or suit by or in the right of the Company to procure a judgment in its favor by reason of the fact that he/she is or was a director, officer, employee or agent of the Company, or is or was serving at the request of the Company as a director, officer, employee or agent of another Corporation, partnership, joint venture, trust or other enterprise against expenses (including attorneys’ fees) actually and reasonably incurred by him/her in connection with the defense or settlement of such action or suit if he she acted in good faith and in a manner he/she reasonably believed to be in or not opposed to the best interests of the Company and except that no indemnification shall be made in respect of any claim, issue or matter as to which such person shall have been adjudged to be liable to the Company unless and only to the extent that the Court of Chancery or the court in which such action or suit was brought shall determine upon application that, despite the adjudication of liability but in view of all the circumstances of the case, such person is fairly and reasonably entitled to indemnity for such expenses which the Court of Chancery or such other court shall deem proper.

We maintain a general liability insurance policy that covers certain liabilities of our directors and officers arising out of claims based on acts or omissions in their capacities as directors or officers.

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Item 7. Exemption from Registration Claimed.

Not applicable.

Item 8. Exhibits.

Exhibit	Description
4.1	Second Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 3.1 to the Registrant’s Current Report on Form 8-K filed August 15, 2019)
4.2	By-laws (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 3.3 to the Registrant’s Form S-1/A filed September 22, 2017)
4.3	Amendment to Bylaws (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 3.1 to the Registrant’s Current Report on Form 8-K dated December 20, 2019)
4.4	Allied Esports Entertainment, Inc. 2019 Stock Incentive Plan (incorporated by reference to Annex C to the Company’s Definitive Proxy Statement on Schedule 14A filed June 12, 2019)
5.1	Specimen common stock Certificate (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 4.2 to the Registrant’s Form S-1/A filed September 22, 2017)
5.1*	Opinion of Maslon LLP as to the legality of the securities being registered
23.1*	Consent of Marcum LLP
23.2*	Consent of Maslon LLP (included in Exhibit 5.1)
24.1*	Power of Attorney (included on signature page hereof)

* Filed herewith 

Item 9. Undertakings.

The undersigned registrant hereby undertakes:

(a)(1) To file, during any period in which offers or sales are being made, a post-effective amendment to this registration statement:

(i) To include any prospectus required by Section 10(a)(3) of the Securities Act of 1933;

(ii) To reflect in the prospectus any facts or events arising after the effective date of the registration statement (or the most recent post-effective amendment thereof) which, individually or in the aggregate, represent a fundamental change in the information set forth in the registration statement. Notwithstanding the foregoing, any increase or decrease in volume of securities offered (if the total dollar value of securities offered would not exceed that which was registered) and any deviation from the low or high end of the estimated maximum offering range may be reflected in the form of prospectus filed with the Commission pursuant to Rule 424(b) if, in the aggregate, the changes in volume and price represent no more than 20 percent change in the maximum aggregate offering price set forth in the "Calculation of Registration Fee" table in the effective registration statement; and

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(iii) To include any material information with respect to the plan of distribution not previously disclosed in this registration statement or any material change to such information in this registration statement;

Provided, however, that paragraphs (a)(1)(i) and (a)(1)(ii) of this section do not apply if the information required to be included in a post-effective amendment by those paragraphs is contained in reports filed with or furnished to the Securities and Exchange Commission by the registrant pursuant to Section 13 or Section 15(d) of the Exchange Act that are incorporated by reference in this registration statement.

(2) That, for the purpose of determining any liability under the Securities Act of 1933, each such post-effective amendment shall be deemed to be a new registration statement relating to the securities offered therein, and the offering of such securities at that time shall be deemed to be the initial bona fide offering thereof.

(3) To remove from registration by means of a post-effective amendment any of the securities being registered which remain unsold at the termination of the offering.

(b) The undersigned registrant hereby undertakes that, for the purposes of determining any liability under the Securities Act, each filing of the registrant’s annual report pursuant to Section 13(a) or Section 15(d) of the Exchange Act (and, where applicable, each filing of an employee benefit plan’s annual report pursuant to Section 15(d) of the Exchange Act) that is incorporated by reference in this registration statement shall be deemed to be a new registration statement relating to the securities offered therein, and the offering of such securities at that time shall be deemed to be the initial bona fide offering thereof.

(h) Insofar as indemnification for liabilities arising under the Securities Act may be permitted to directors, officers and controlling persons of the registrant pursuant to the foregoing provisions, or otherwise, the registrant has been advised that in the opinion of the Securities and Exchange Commission such indemnification is against public policy as expressed in the Act and is, therefore, unenforceable. In the event that a claim for indemnification against such liabilities (other than the payment by the registrant of expenses incurred or paid by a director, officer or controlling person of the registrant in the successful defense of any action, suit or proceeding) is asserted by such director, officer or controlling person in connection with the securities being registered, the registrant will, unless in the opinion of its counsel the matter has been settled by controlling precedent, submit to a court of appropriate jurisdiction the question whether such indemnification by it is against public policy as expressed in the Securities Act and will be governed by the final adjudication of such issue.

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SIGNATURES

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Act of 1933, the Registrant certifies that it has reasonable grounds to believe that it meets all of the requirements for filing on Form S-8 and has duly caused this Registration Statement to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned, thereunto duly authorized, in the City of Irvine, State of California, on July 21, 2020.

ALLIED ESPORTS ENTERTAINMENT, INC.
By:	/s/ Frank Ng
	Chief Executive Officer

POWER OF ATTORNEY

Each person whose signature appears below hereby constitutes and appoints Frank Ng and Anthony A. Hung, and each of them, as his/her true and lawful attorneys-in-fact and agents, with full power of substitution and re-substitution, for him/her and in his/her name, place and stead, in any and all capacities, to sign any and all amendments (including post-effective amendments) to this Registration Statement, and to file the same, with all exhibits thereto, and other documents in connection therewith, with the Securities and Exchange Commission, granting unto said attorneys-in-fact and agents, full power and authority to do and perform each and every act and thing requisite and necessary to be done in connection therewith, as fully to all intents and purposes as he/she might or could do in person, hereby ratifying and confirming all that said attorney-in-fact and agent or his/her substitutes or substitute, may lawfully do or cause to be done by virtue hereof.

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Act of 1933, this Registration Statement has been signed by the following persons in the capacities and on the dates indicated below. 

Name	Title	Date
/s/ Frank Ng	Chief Executive Officer	July 21, 2020
Frank Ng	(principal executive officer) and Director
/s/ Anthony Hung	Chief Financial Officer	July 21, 2020
Anthony Hung	(principal financial and accounting officer)
/s/ Adam Pliska	President and Director	July 21, 2020
Adam Pliska
/s/ Lyle Berman	Director	July 21, 2020
Lyle Berman
/s/ Bradley Berman	Director	July 21, 2020
Bradley Berman
/s/ Ho Min Kim	Director	July 21, 2020
Ho Min Kim
/s Joseph Lahti	Director	July 21, 2020
Joseph Lahti
/s/ Benjamin Oehler	Director	July 21, 2020
Benjamin Oehler
/s/ Maya Rogers	Director	July 21, 2020
Maya Rogers

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