First major global professional esports
league
Teams for Boston, Los Angeles, Miami-Orlando,
New York, San Francisco, Seoul, Shanghai announced
Activision Blizzard, Inc. (Nasdaq: ATVI) today announced the
sale of the first Overwatch League™ teams for major global cities
to seven entrepreneurs and leaders from traditional sports and
esports. The Overwatch League is the first major global
professional esports league with city-based teams.
New team owners include:
- Robert Kraft, Chairman and CEO of the
Kraft Group and the New England Patriots (Boston)
- Jeff Wilpon, Co-Founder and Partner of
Sterling.VC and COO of the New York Mets (New York)
- Noah Whinston, CEO of Immortals (Los
Angeles)
- Ben Spoont, CEO and Co-Founder of
Misfits Gaming (Miami-Orlando)
- Andy Miller, Chairman and Founder of
NRG Esports (San Francisco)
- NetEase (Shanghai)
- Kevin Chou, Co-Founder of Kabam
(Seoul)
“Overwatch already connects over 30 million players worldwide.
The Overwatch League will celebrate and reward our most
accomplished players and give fans more opportunities to engage
with each other,” said Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick. “We’re
excited to be working with leaders from esports and traditional
sports to celebrate our players and to establish the Overwatch
League.”
“Overwatch is a game about a diverse group of international
heroes who fight for an optimistic vision of the future, and the
Overwatch League is an extension of that spirit,” said Mike
Morhaime, CEO and Co-Founder of Blizzard Entertainment. “We’re
building this league for fans - esports fans, traditional sports
fans, gaming fans - and we’re thrilled to have individuals and
organizations who are as passionate about professional competition
as we are, and who have extensive experience in all three fields,
representing our first major international cities in the
league.”
“We have been exploring the esports market for a number of years
and have been waiting for the right opportunity to enter,” said
Robert Kraft, Chairman and CEO of the Kraft Group. “The incredible
global success of Overwatch since its launch, coupled with the
league’s meticulous focus on a structure and strategy that clearly
represents the future of esports made this the obvious entry point
for the Kraft Group.”
“It’s an honor to be selected as one of the ownership groups in
the inaugural season of this new league,” said Jeff Wilpon,
Co-Founder and Partner at Sterling.VC, a Sterling Equities venture
capital fund. “We view our participation in the Overwatch League as
a major opportunity to take a lead position where technology is
converging with sports and media. This partnership with the
Overwatch League and with some of the elite ownership groups in
professional sports, offers a unique opportunity to connect with
millions of dedicated fans, engaged and passionate about one of the
world’s fastest growing sports, and to continue proudly
representing New York.”
“Immortals has been eagerly anticipating the launch of the
Overwatch League since the plans were unveiled. With our shared
values and vision for the future of esports, we’re honored to be
selected as one of the initial members of this global league,” said
Immortals CEO Noah Whinston. “Alongside our partners at AEG, we’re
excited to pioneer esports regionality as an inaugural franchise
and to continue L.A.’s championship tradition.”
“Misfits Gaming is thrilled to join the Overwatch League and
represent the great cities of Miami and Orlando,” said Misfits
Gaming CEO and Co-Founder Ben Spoont. “Competing as part of a major
city-based esports league is something we’ve always wanted to do,
and together with our partner the Miami Heat we’re very excited by
the potential to build something amazing for our fans in the months
and years ahead. This is going to be a great experience for teams
and everyone who loves esports.”
“NRG Esports couldn’t be more honored to represent San Francisco
and all of Northern California for the launch of the Overwatch
League,” said Andy Miller, Chairman and Founder of NRG Esports. “As
big believers in Overwatch, NRG has fielded one of the most popular
teams in the world since the game’s release and can’t wait to bring
a hometown team to the Bay Area.”
“We’re passionate about gaming at NetEase, and the Overwatch
League is an opportunity we didn’t want to miss,” said William
Ding, CEO of NetEase. “The commitment of Overwatch’s players and
fan community is an incredible foundation on which to build a
successful global league, and we’re looking forward to building a
world-class team for Shanghai that inspires fans everywhere.”
“As esports enthusiasts, we’ve always seen Seoul as the place to
be for world-class competitive gaming,” said Kevin Chou, Co-Founder
of Kabam. “We’re very honored to represent the birthplace of
esports as owners of the Overwatch League team in Seoul and excited
to work closely with the most passionate and enthusiastic gaming
community in the world.”
Overwatch was created by globally acclaimed publisher Blizzard
Entertainment, known for iconic franchises including World of
Warcraft®, Hearthstone®, StarCraft®, and Heroes of the Storm®, many
of which have laid the foundations and helped push the boundaries
of professional esports over the last 15 years. Among Blizzard’s
stable of twenty #1 games over the past two decades, Overwatch is
the fastest to reach more than 30 million players. Overwatch was
built from the ground up for online competition, with memorable
characters and fast-paced action designed for the most engaging
gameplay and spectator experiences.
The Overwatch League, slated to begin later this year, is a
unique opportunity for owners and players. As the first major
esports league to feature a city-based structure, the league will
drive development of local fan bases. For the first season of the
league, regular-season matches will be played at an esports arena
in the Los Angeles area, as teams develop their local venues for
formal home and away play in future seasons. Matches will be played
each Thursday, Friday and Saturday. A full schedule and information
about ticket sales will be announced closer to launch.
The league will create value for team owners through
advertising, ticketing and broadcast rights revenues, with teams
receiving an equal share of all league-wide net revenues. Teams
will also keep all local revenues generated through their home
territory and venue up to a set amount each year, unprecedented in
esports; above the set amount, a percentage is sent to the league’s
shared revenue pool. In addition, teams will have a license to
operate and monetize up to five amateur events in their home
territory each year, and to benefit from the sale of
league-affiliated fan items in Overwatch, with 50% of the revenues
going into the net shared revenue pool for all teams.
The Overwatch League will also provide advertisers and
sponsors with opportunities that are unparalleled in the
esports space, with global fan bases not found in traditional
sports, along with better targeting and analytics than
traditional forms of advertising. Last year, 285 million people
worldwide watched esports.[1] The
quickly-growing esports audience also includes some of the hardest
to reach and most sought after demographics, with a share of
millennials two to three times higher than any of the ‘Big Four’ US
sports.[2]
To learn more about the Overwatch League, visit the official
website at www.overwatchleague.com.
About Activision Blizzard
Activision Blizzard, Inc., a member of the Fortune 500 and
S&P 500, is the world’s most successful standalone interactive
entertainment company. We delight hundreds of millions of monthly
active users around the world through franchises including
Activision’s Call of Duty®, Destiny and Skylanders®, Blizzard
Entertainment’s World of Warcraft®, Overwatch®, Hearthstone®,
Diablo®, StarCraft®, and Heroes of the Storm®, and King’s Candy
Crush™, Pet Rescue™, Bubble Witch™ and Farm Heroes™. The company is
one of the Fortune “100 Best Companies To Work For®”. Headquartered
in Santa Monica, California, Activision Blizzard has operations
throughout the world, and its games are played in 196 countries.
More information about Activision Blizzard and its products can be
found on the company’s website, www.activisionblizzard.com.
[1] Newzoo,
2017[2] Esports audience
demographic from Blizzard Consumer Insights survey of 5,000 global
esports viewers, 2016; US professional sports demographics from
Barclays ‘Future of Sports: Aggregator of Platforms’, September
2016
View source
version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170712005446/en/
Overwatch League Media
Contacts:Andrew Reynoldsareynolds@blizzard.comorRob
Hilburgerrhilburger@blizzard.comorMary
Osakomary.osako@activision.com
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