Overwatch League to Expand to 20 Cities Total For Second Season
According to reports from ESPN, four more Overwatch League expansion slots have been sold for season two. The following cities will be getting OWL teams of their own:
- Chengdu, China
- Hangzhou, China
- Vancouver, British Columbia
- Washington, D.C.
These four teams are the final expansions to join the league ahead of season two, bringing the total expansion cities reportedly sold to eight. The Overwatch League now has a reported 20 teams heading into season two, up from 12 in the inaugural season.
Chinese streaming platform Huya will operate the Chengdu team, while Hangzhou’s team will be owned by Chinese media site Bilibili. Aquilini Investment Group, which owns the Vancouver Canucks’ parent company, purchased the Vancouver slot. Washington D.C.’s franchise will be owned by an investment group headed by Washington Kastles owner and aXiomatic (Team Liquid’s parent company) minority owner Mark Ein.
Sale prices for these slots were not reported, but ESPN wrote in February that prices ranged from $35 to $60 million.
Other reported expansion cities include Toronto and Paris, but keep in mind that only two – Atlanta and Guangzhou, China – have actually been confirmed by Blizzard.
Back in early August, reports came up that Blizzard was finalizing a $35 million deal to bring Toronto into the Overwatch League. The reported investing group included Pittsburgh Penguins NHL team investor Michael Kimel and esports organization Splyce.
Chris Overholt, the Canadian Olympic Committee CEO of eight years, has stepped down from his position to join the Toronto OWL franschise, according to Ben Fischer of the SportsBusiness Journal.
Scoop: Overholt will be joining the expansion @OverwatchLeague franchise in Toronto, making him one of the highest-level traditional sports execs to jump into esports yet. Story coming in the Closing Bell. https://t.co/7if8j3NA7d
— Ben Fischer (@BenFischerSBJ) September 5, 2018
Overholt brings an extensive professional sports background to the table for Toronto, including time as the vice president and chief marketing officer for both the Miami Dolphins NFL team and Florida Panthers NHL team. His influence with the Toronto Raptors and Toronto-based Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment could help push the OWL expansion team’s reach into the traditional sports world. This level of sports team knowledge is unprecedented in esports.
The Overwatch League now has 13 North American teams, 11 in the United States and two in Canada; five Asian teams, four in China and one in South Korea; and two European teams, one in Paris and another in London.