The Overwatch League has generated league-level revenue in excess of $120M to dateOVERWATCH LEAGUE
Overwatch League will crown a champion Saturday at Barclays Center, but league owner Blizzard Entertainment has structured its first Grand Finals as an all-encompassing esports festival and business conference to leverage what is likely to be its biggest audience yet. Activision Blizzard Esports CEO Pete Vlastelica said, "It’s been an all-hands-on-deck effort, similar to the launch in a lot of ways across Blizzard and even beyond, into (parent company) Activision Blizzard. You look around and you'll see a lot of people here in the next couple of days who work in Irvine and Santa Monica. We brought a big team out, because we didn’t want to skip a beat."
MAKING THE ROUNDS: After a Thursday media blitz involving execs and finalist teams Philadelphia Fusion, owned by Comcast Spectacor, and the London Spitfire, owned by the Cloud9 organization, Friday brings more behind-the-scenes business leading up to first match of the best-of-three series. Vlastelica, Activision Blizzard Esports Leagues CRO Brandon Snow and Head of Global Partnerships Josh Cella will host about 100 current and prospective sponsors, media rights holders and licensees for a summit at the arena. On Saturday, several prospective expansion franchise owners are expected to be in attendance, and Activison Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick will arrive to greet VIP guests and be available to help close deals. The Overwatch League has generated league-level revenue in excess of $120M to date. Just for this weekend, it added Spotify, Cheez-It and Dolby Sound as short-term sponsors on top of its roster of Omen by HP, Intel, T-Mobile, Sour Patch Kids and Toyota.
YOU'RE THE INSPIRATION: Commissioner Nate Nanzer said OWL has tried to take best practices from traditional sports leagues. Vlastelica said NBA All-Star Weekend is a key inspiration for the two-day finals, He said of the NBA, “They’re great at what they do there and we learned a lot just by observing as fans that we’ve tried to apply to this event.” Vlastelica also singled out the UFC and Olympics for how they can sell the players’ backstories to fans who do not necessarily follow the actual game. Most esports experts believe that the live experience still leaves a lot to be desired in terms of sophisticated sponsorship activations and fan engagement.
TOTAL TAKEOVER: Under the terms of its deal with Barclays Center this weekend, Blizzard has taken over the entire facility. “We’re trying to make the concourse as exciting as what happens in here, to the extent that’s possible,” Vlastelica said from a suite overlooking the competition stage, mentioning the Spotify activation as something worth watching. A massive temporary video screen, several times the size of the usual Barclays Center main video scoreboard, spans the width of the floor over the competition stage. Cloud9 and Spitfire co-Founder & CEO Jack Etienne said, “If their sales efforts weren’t so good, I’d be a bit more scared about how much they spend." The event is sold out for both nights.
TEAMS SEE RICHES IN CHAMPIONSHIP: In well-established traditional sports leagues, there is not always a strong correlation between competitive success and a thriving team business. But owners of both the Spitfire and the Fusion say a title would boost their marketing and sales efforts because so many fans are still up for grabs. “At these inflection moments you pick up a lot of fans and build a story,” Etienne said. “They’ll be with you through the lean times.” Fusion President Tucker Roberts agreed, hearkening back to the history of his corporate sister brand, the Flyers, the first NHL expansion team to win the Stanley Cup after the Original Six era. “Coming out of the gates and winning early, it’s the best chance you’re ever going to have to win,” he said. The champion will receive a $1M prize, split 50-50 between players and the team. Both teams are benefiting from the out-sized attention Overwatch is giving the finals. They will be the only teams out of 12 to appear on the primary ESPN, which airs Game 1 tonight. Etienne noted the league produced lots of content about the top two seeds, NYXL and L.A. Valiant, both whom lost in the semifinals. “That’s unfortunate for those guys but it’s great for me. Now we have the full focus of Activision Blizzard on promotion, and of course that’s very valuable," he said.
GLOBAL CHALLENGES: Brooklyn is a neutral site, but there is a marked home field advantage for the Fusion. Comcast Xfinity sponsored charter buses to bring more than 100 Philadelphia fans to Brooklyn each day. Meanwhile, the Spitfire are challenged by distance and time differences -- Game 1 starts at midnight U.K. time. If the finals go the full three matches, it will not be over until the early morning hours of Sunday in London. There will be viewing parties in London, Etienne said, but the viewership will be best for Game 2, which starts at 4:00pm ET on Saturday. OWL's presence globally could be expanding, as ESPN reported Thursday that L.A.-based McCourt Global was finalizing a deal to buy a Paris OWL team, and that Chinese billionaire Zhong Naixong's company was close to buying a franchise in Guangzhou.
