Ryan Goodrich
The third season of Overwatch League kicked off in February, an esports competition with 20 franchised teams representing cities around the world. Competitions will be hosted continuously throughout North America, Europe, China, and South Korea over the course of its seven-month season. And so far things have been going quite well with thousands of fans attending sold-out events in New York City and Dallas, with hundreds of thousands also tuning in online to watch.
How things have gone international: This year is different from previous years in that before, traveling only occurred when going to Blizzard’s Burbank, California studio for competitions. Now teams are expected to regularly travel to franchise locations where local fans can easily show up and watch matches between competitors. This is something many teams have been preparing and waiting for over the first two seasons of the League.
One team’s efforts: In an interview with Business Insider, Excelsior cofounder Rohit Grupta said, “We’ve been bringing our team into the market to do meet-and-greets with our fans. We’ve been supporting the collegiate [esports] circuit as well as the high school circuit. Those are just are some of the ways we we’ve been engaging the local community specifically around Overwatch.” Now teams have an event better chance to connect with local fans and build up the community around a game that is as entertaining to watch as it is to play.
How the League has turned profitable: In January, Activision announced a deal with Google to bring Overwatch League and other esports offerings exclusively to YouTube. The deal was valued at $160 million over three years, with additional incentives for viewership goals and ad sales. Before this deal, Twitch was the OWL’s primary broadcast partner and brought in 1.12 million average viewers during 2019, an increase of 16% over the previous year.
A positive outlook: The League is already facing hurdles with rescheduling numerous canceled matches planned for China and South Korea due to the Coronavirus outbreak. But still, the League has created a firm foundation for its future with thousands of fans turning out for live events, online viewership showing significant growth, and this multi-year deal with YouTube.
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