The most ambitious eSports project yet is coming sometime in 2017.
Blizzard Entertainment on Friday announced its plans at BlizzCon 2016 for the inaugural Overwatch League beginning next year, the first eSports league created at the outset which will have an inherent focus on driving revenue across ticketing, merchandise, sponsorships and media.
Sports team owners and executives Robert Kraft (New England Patriots), Stan Kroenke (Los Angeles Rams) and Josh Kroenke (Denver Nuggets) were all in attendance to hear the announcement.
“The Overwatch League represents not only the pinnacle of Overwatch competition, but also a genuine career opportunity for the most skilled Overwatch players,” Mike Morhaime, Chief Executive Officer and co-founder of Blizzard Entertainment, said in a statement. “We’re building a league that’s accessible to players and fans, sustainable and exciting for everyone involved.”
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The new league, where teams will have a permanent slot as opposed to any relegation, will mirror other U.S. professional sports leagues in terms of independently owned franchises having a local supporting fan base. Business elements such as ticketing, merchandise and local sponsorships will be similarly controlled at the team level while there are future plans for potential media and distribution deals as well.
“This type of system is the best bet for eSports to be able to grow with structure and protections that the athletes of tomorrow will need,” said Happy Walters, long-time sports agent and CEO of Catalyst Sports and Media, which has a dedicated eSports practice.
That’s $ATVI CEO @BobbyKotick sitting between Patriots owner Robert Kraft, LA Rams owner Stan Kroenke at Blizzcon. There to talk Overwatch. pic.twitter.com/CegWPApypy
— Brett Molina (@brettmolina23) November 5, 2016
Chris Erb, Founder of Tripleclix — a strategic marketing agency with a gaming emphasis — said that he wasn’t surprised by the announcement as more game publishers continue to formalize eSports as a whole.
“Throughout all of their titles, Blizzard has shown new and creative ways to expand their business. The Overwatch League will benefit from Blizzard’s experience and support,” he said.
The Overwatch League’s consistent programming schedule will not only provide new forms of content but from a business perspective, make it easier to sell advertising to endemic and non-endemic brands looking to push marketing dollars into gaming. As Erb explained, Turner Sports and WME/IMG’s partnership around ELEAGUE has drawn consistent viewership numbers across linear on TBS along with its live streams on Twitch. The weekly League of Legends’ League Championship Series has also seen its viewership numbers increase in 2016.
With an already built-in eSports audience and a nearly six-month old game in Overwatch — Blizzard’s fastest growing title to reach 20 million global players — it will be interesting to see how the next 12 months shake out and if there are other publishers who launch similar leagues.
“eSports fans are a hungry audience that continues to devour endless amounts of content,” Erb said.
“We’ve seen other game publishers, such as Riot Games and Valve, take direct control of their product’s competitive gaming ecosystem with an extremely positive effect. With Blizzard’s support, Overwatch will quickly become one of the most popular eSports in gaming.”