Blizzard’s Overwatch League was ambitious and doomed | Opinion
When Blizzard announced the Overwatch League in 2016, there were plenty of questions about how the esports league would actually work – but at the very least, you couldn’t fault the ambition. The company envisaged city-based team franchises located all around the world, with each of the separately-owned teams – who each paid tens of millions of dollars in franchise fees to join the league – expected to build an esports arena in their cities, with the hope of attracting large live audiences for the games as well as online streaming audiences. Borrowing heavily from US sports’ business models, it was a big, bold idea; it was never entirely clear whether it was also a good idea, but it was certainly enough to whip up interest from teams, with twenty of them ultimately joining the league at costs ranging from around $20 million to an eye-watering $65m. Read more
When Blizzard announced the Overwatch League in 2016, there were plenty of questions about how the esports league would actually work – but at the very least, you couldn’t fault the ambition.
The company envisaged city-based team franchises located all around the world, with each of the separately-owned teams – who each paid tens of millions of dollars in franchise fees to join the league – expected to build an esports arena in their cities, with the hope of attracting large live audiences for the games as well as online streaming audiences.
Borrowing heavily from US sports’ business models, it was a big, bold idea; it was never entirely clear whether it was also a good idea, but it was certainly enough to whip up interest from teams, with twenty of them ultimately joining the league at costs ranging from around $20 million to an eye-watering $65m.
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