The North American Star League was a professional e-sports league that features the games StarCraft II and Heroes of Newerth. Originally modeled after successful South Korean professional StarCraft leagues, it was founded in 2011 by Russell Pfister and Duncan Stewart. Following the mid-year departure of Stewart, Mark K. Brown was tapped to fill the position of Chief Operating Officer in August 2011, and held that position until late-2014.

Geoffrey John Vincent Robinson, better known as iNcontroL, was an American professional StarCraft player, coach, and commentator. As a player, his first major tournament win came in 2007, when he finished first at the World Cyber Games 2007 USA qualifiers in the StarCraft: Brood War event. He was signed to the esports organization Evil Geniuses in 2009, where he competed as a part of their StarCraft II division. As his career progressed, Robinson transitioned from primarily being a player to primarily being a commentator. He hosted and commentated several major StarCraft II events from 2010 to 2019, including the StarCraft II World Championship Series. He also ran several podcast series throughout his career.