Overwatch League Is Getting Bigger Next Season

Overwatch

Blizzard has some big plans for season 2 of Overwatch League. According to an ESPN article, Blizzard CEO Pete Vlastelica hopes to add 6 new franchises to the league across North America, Europe, and Asia-Oceania for the next season. The article also highlighted how an Atlanta, Georgia expansion slot has already been sold making it the first confirmed new franchise.

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This intent to grow the League comes hot on the heels of the Overwatch League Championships which occurred last weekend at the Barclay’s Center in New York. The completely sold out event attracted over 20,000 attendees to watch the London Spitfires take on the Philadelphia Fusion in an epic 2-set best-out-of-five series. Given the success of the event and the sizeable Overwatch community, the growth of the league seems to be the right move at the right time.

Overwatch League
Image Source: BBC

Needless to say, the expansion slots don’t come cheap. According to an ESPN source, the prices range between $30 to $60 million USD depending on several factors: general population of the city, number of Overwatch players there, and the overall number of bidders. For the sake of perspective, slots for the first season of Overwatch sold for $20 million. Despite it being Blizzard’s first foray into a league-based competitive model, these kind of moves demonstrate they clearly know what they’re doing.

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Overwatch League
Image Source: Independent.ie

McCourt Global and Nenking Group are reportedly in talks for acquiring the rights for Paris, France and Guangzhou, China respectively. If their meetings become successful, then only three open slots remain. As news regarding these last three slots becomes available, we’ll be sure to provide you with updates.

 


Featured Image Source: Invenglobal

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