The Overwatch League (OWL) was a professional esports league for the video game Overwatch, produced by its developer, Blizzard Entertainment. From 2018 to 2023, the Overwatch League followed the model of other traditional North American professional sporting leagues by using a set of permanent, city-based teams backed by separate ownership groups. The league used the regular season and playoffs format rather than promotion and relegation used commonly in other esports and non-North American leagues, with players on the roster being assured a minimum annual salary, benefits, and a portion of winnings and revenue-sharing based on team performance.
The Overwatch League was announced in 2016 and secured commitments from 12 teams across the United States, Europe, and Asia, each investing $20million in franchise fees, to participate in its 2018 inaugural season. The league faced skeptics who questioned its potential success due to the lack of a proven concept and a game without a substantial esports history. For the following season, the Overwatch League brought in eight new franchises, each investing between$35 million to $60million.
In 2020, the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic led to widespread disruptions and forced the league abandon its original homestand model and shift to an online format, where teams competed remotely from their respective regions. While the suspension of in-person events provided a temporary solution, it also raised concerns about its financial viability. However, some team owners noted that not having live events allowed them to mitigate financial losses that they would have otherwise incurred. During the 2021 season, in the wake of a lawsuit filed against Activision Blizzard, nearly all of the league's sponsors withdrew their support from the league.
In November 2022, a broken partnership with NetEase and Blizzard resulted in Overwatch 2 being banned in China. As a result, the league allowed Overwatch Contenders teams to compete in its Eastern Region for the following season, and the league saw its first team leave, as the Chengdu Hunters dissolved. In January 2023, Overwatch League teams collectively initiated a collective bargaining process, which resulted in the Overwatch League agreeing to waive all outstanding franchise fees. By November 2023, Blizzard had announced that Overwatch esports was "transitioning" from the Overwatch League into a more traditional esports structure for the title, which would become the Overwatch Champions Series (OWCS) in 2024.
The OverwatchLeague (OWL) was a professional esports league for the video game Overwatch, produced by its developer, Blizzard Entertainment. From 2018...
annual Overwatch World Cup, as well as a league and its developmental minor league, which borrowed elements found in traditional American sports leagues. In...
Overwatch Contenders (OWC) was an international esports league for the video game Overwatch that is organized by Blizzard Entertainment. The series acts...
Overwatch 2 is a 2022 first-person shooter game developed and published by Blizzard Entertainment. As a sequel and replacement to the 2016 hero shooter...
joined the Dallas Fuel, a team competing in the inaugural season of the OverwatchLeague, in late 2017. However, his time with the Dallas Fuel was marred by...
The Overwatch World Cup (OWWC) is an annual international Overwatch esports tournament organized by Blizzard Entertainment, the game's developer, with...
The 2023 OverwatchLeague season was the sixth season of the OverwatchLeague (OWL), a professional esports league for the video game Overwatch 2. The teams...
League follows the model of the OverwatchLeague as well as other traditional North American professional sporting leagues by using a set of permanent, city-based...
The 2023 OverwatchLeague Grand Finals was the sixth, and final, championship match of the OverwatchLeague (OWL), which took place on October 1, 2023...
the game Overwatch. He initially competed for Selfless Gaming and later joined the San Francisco Shock team prior to the OverwatchLeague's inaugural...
Overwatch Apex, or simply Apex, was a competitive esports tournament series in South Korea for the video game Overwatch run by South Korean cable television...
The 2018 OverwatchLeague season was the inaugural season for the OverwatchLeague, an esports league based on the video game Overwatch which began on...
The Overwatch franchise, a series of first-person shooter games developed by Blizzard Entertainment, consists of 40 playable characters across both games...
Overwatch and Overwatch 2 are team-based first-person shooter games developed by Blizzard Entertainment. Overwatch was released in May 2016 for several...
The 2022 OverwatchLeague season was the fifth season of the OverwatchLeague (OWL), a professional esports league. Contrasted to the first four seasons...
professional Overwatch esports team based in Los Angeles, California. The Gladiators compete in the OverwatchLeague (OWL) as a member of the league's West region...
for the professional esports OverwatchLeague. They played in Season 1 of the OverwatchLeague. Preseason for the league began December 6, 2017, and the...
Rapids of Major League Soccer, Colorado Mammoth of the National Lacrosse League, the Los Angeles Gladiators of the OverwatchLeague, and the Los Angeles...
The 2021 OverwatchLeague season was the fourth season of the OverwatchLeague (OWL), a professional esports league for the video game Overwatch. The regular...
professional Overwatch esports team based in San Francisco, California. The Shock compete in the OverwatchLeague (OWL) as a member of the league's West region...
professional Overwatch esports team based in Boston, Massachusetts. The team competed in the OverwatchLeague (OWL) as a member of the league's West region...
acquired the I May League of Legends roster. The team expanded into Overwatch in March 2019 with the formation of an Overwatch Contenders academy team...
The 2023 Overwatch World Cup (OWWC) was the fifth edition of the Overwatch World Cup, an Overwatch esports tournament, organized by the game's developer...
of the expansion franchises for the 2019 OverwatchLeague season. At the end of the Stage 1 of the League's 2019 season, Francesca announced that he would...
the Disney animated series Big City Greens and Disney XD has aired OverwatchLeague esports matches during the OWL's run as part of its short-lived D|XP...
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