The hotly discussed and not undisputed Overwatch League of Blizzard becomes a reality. The organizers now presented the first 7 teams in the league.
7 teams, 7 cities that is the starting point for the Overwatch league, unlike in comparable eSports, Blizzard chose a league format that follows traditional sports leagues like NBA / NFL.
The teams in the league represent their hometown and, as previously reported, it is said to have cost them US $ 20 million each. In the following we have listed the cities and their teams, as well as owners:
The Overwatch League teams
Boston, USA - Owner is Robert Kraft, billionaire and head of the Kraft Group. He also owns the New England Patriots (American Football) and the New England Revolution Football Club.
new York, USA - Owner Jeff Wilpon, head of the New York Mets (baseball) and vice president of the investment firm Sterling Equities, which operates the Met's Stadium.
San Francisco, USA - Owner Andy Miller already owns an Overwatch team and is part of the owner of the Sacramento Kings basketball team. Former vice president of mobile advertising at Apple.
Miami-Orlando, USA - owner Ben Spoont the head of Misfits Gaming, an eSports organization that was founded last year. The NBA Team Miami Heats owns shares in it.
Los Angeles, USA - Head of the eSports organization Immortals which, in addition to an Overwatch team, owns a large number of teams in other eSports, e.g. League of Legends. Parts of the organization belong to the NBA Team Memphis Grizzlies and the band Linkin Park.
Seoul, Korea - head of the new organization KSV eSports. Previously head of the mobile games publisher Kabam.
Shanghai, China - NetEase, the Chinese publisher of many Blizzard titles in China, including World of Warcraft.
In order to give the teams and owners time to find appropriate locations to host the games or to build them if necessary, the first games will be played in an eSports arena in Los Angeles. The games take place every Thursday, Friday and Saturday during the season.
For budding Overwatch professionals, each team has the opportunity to hold 5 amateur events. This will complement the online Open Division games and regional contenders to give everyone the opportunity to get started in Overwatch.
More details should be available soon, the Overwatch League should definitely start this year.
