Overwatch - OWL

The development of began in approximately 2013, coinciding with the rising popularity of esports and spectator-driven video gaming, fueled by the accessibility of live streaming platforms. However, the game's development was not dedicated to esports. Lead director Jeff Kaplan, based on Blizzard's past experiences with esports, emphasized the importance of avoiding excessive commitment to esports too early in the game's lifespan. Instead, they chose to closely observe the player community and incorporate any esports-related goals based on their observations. During the beta period of Overwatch, which lasted from late 2015 to mid-2016, Blizzard observed that players were organizing ad hoc competitions and tournaments for the game. This led to Blizzard's consideration of the potential impact if they took charge of formalizing and structuring these competitions. Nate Nanzer, who later became the league's commissioner, noted that with the right approach and investment, they could monetize esports in a manner comparable to traditional sports. Building on this insight, Blizzard laid the groundwork for what would eventually become the Overwatch League. Part of this included introducing competitive features directly into the main Overwatch game, such as ranked play, allowing players to climb a rankings ladder and attract the attention of esports team organizers. In October 2016, Bobby Kotick, the CEO of Activision Blizzard, the parent company of Blizzard, first publicly mentioned the Overwatch League. Kotick highlighted the viewership of user-generated esports content, which had already reached around 100 million, surpassing the viewership of some professional NFL and NBA games. Recognizing this potential, Kotick envisioned the Overwatch League as a means to deliver "professional content" and tap into this extensive viewership.

The Overwatch League was formally announced at BlizzCon in November 2016. During the announcement, Blizzard revealed their plans for the league, which would feature franchised teams employing players to compete in both live arenas and via video streaming platforms. These teams would provide players with salaries, benefits, and opportunities for team and player development. Blizzard's approach to the league differed from traditional esports models that used relegation and promotion systems, such as the one employed in the Championship Series. Instead, they opted to follow the American model prevalent in more traditional physical sports. Kotick expressed his belief that the Overwatch League represented an unprecedented venture in esports, emphasizing that nothing of this scale had been attempted before. He also emphasized the importance of adopting a model similar to the NFL in terms of league structure and financial opportunities to attract substantial investments and establish long-lasting franchises within the Overwatch League. He described this approach as a "forever investment".

Blizzard aimed to cover the costs of running the league through traditional revenue streams commonly seen in professional sports leagues, including promotion, advertisements, and physical merchandise. Additionally, owing to the digital nature of esports, Kotick said that they had the opportunity to generate revenue from virtual league-based items offered to fans, as well as increased sales of Overwatch and other games. He also expressed that they could explore more lucrative "over-the-top advertising opportunities that wouldn't exist in traditional sports". Kotick expressed confidence in the league's future financial success. While certain revenue streams might take time to fully materialize, he noted significant traction and enthusiasm from fans before the inaugural season began.

Blizzard sought out potential team owners, with a focus on establishing localized teams tied to specific geographic areas. The company believed that having such local teams would generate greater interest in esports among spectators and potential sponsors, as it would create new opportunities for fans to engage and support their hometown teams. A meeting for prospective team owners took place at BlizzCon 2016, shortly after the league's official announcement. Notable attendees included Robert Kraft, the owner of the New England Patriots, and Stan Kroenke, the owner of the Los Angeles Rams. During the formative stages of the league, Blizzard appointed Steve Bornstein as the company's esports chair. Bornstein, formerly the president of ABC Sports and CEO of NFL Network, assumed a role in shaping the broadcast and presentation of Overwatch League games.

Blizzard anticipated the Overwatch League would have a seven-figure payoff for the winning team at the end of a season. The inaugural season of the league, which was initially intended to be a shortened one, was planned to start in Q3 2017. Subsequent full-length seasons were scheduled to commence in 2018, with the league incorporating half-year long seasonal breaks beginning in Q4 of that year. Prior to the league's official start, Blizzard planned to host a combine, during which players would be invited to try out for guaranteed team contracts.

After the initial announcement in November 2016, Blizzard remained tight-lipped about the Overwatch League for several months, leading to some speculation that the league might be encountering challenges. In May 2017, ESPN reported that the league was indeed facing difficulties in securing franchise deals and attributed these issues to two primary factors. Firstly, the high base cost of starting a franchise, which began at $20 million and could be even higher in more urban markets like New York City and Los Angeles, presented a significant barrier. This entry fee was substantially higher compared to buy-ins for other esports leagues. Secondly, another obstacle was the absence of revenue sharing until 2021. This meant that potential franchise owners could face difficulties in recovering their initial investment costs. However, during this time, Activision Blizzard was actively engaging with potential team owners, opting to withhold extensive announcements until they could present comprehensive details.

The Kraft Group, headed by Robert Kraft, emerged as a key team owner for the league. Kraft had shown previous interest in investing in esports and had met with Bobby Kotick in 2013 when Kotick was exploring investment opportunities in an NFL franchise. During that meeting, Kraft revealed their intent to seek investment in an esports team. Over the next few years, Kraft evaluated various esports competitions but was not entirely comfortable with their grassroots nature. However, when Blizzard introduced the Overwatch League during BlizzCon 2016, it captured Kraft's attention. By March 2017, a deal was successfully struck between Kraft and Activision, securing the first team ownership group for the Overwatch League. Once the Kraft Group committed to supporting a Boston-based team, later named the Boston Uprising, this acted as a catalyst, leading to the formation of six additional teams in the league. The Kraft Group themselves helped to convince some of the other owners to buy into the Overwatch League.

In July 2017, Blizzard revealed the first seven teams and their respective owners for the Overwatch League. Over the following months, additional teams were announced, eventually finalizing a total of twelve teams by mid-December.

In September 2017, Blizzard announced that they would make permanent use of Studio 1 at The Burbank Studios in Burbank, California, and would convert it into the "Blizzard Arena". Having a dedicated arena served several purposes. Firstly, it aimed to elevate the status of the Overwatch League, presenting it as a highly orchestrated event distinct from other esports tournaments. Additionally, the Blizzard Arena provided an opportunity for players to build stronger connections with their fanbase. Blizzard conducted Overwatch Contenders events in the Blizzard Arena in October 2017. This allowed them to identify areas for improvement and make necessary adjustments ahead of the Overwatch League pre-season, which commenced in December 2017.

To support spectating on broadcast and streaming media, Blizzard implemented cosmetic modifications to the game. Each team received dedicated character skins featuring their team colors, names, and logos. These customized skins were used during matches to easily identify and represent their respective teams. To allow fans outside of the league to show their support, Blizzard introduced a special in-game currency called "OWL Tokens". Players could purchase a character's team skin using OWL Tokens. A percentage of the revenue generated from these purchases was allocated to the teams themselves, providing them with additional financial support. Initially, OWL Tokens were obtainable through an in-game purchase with real currency. However, during the first season, viewers could receive tokens by watching the live broadcast of games through any official Overwatch League channel.

Blizzard also worked to create an AI-based cameraman, capable of following the action of the game and selecting key instant replays. During regular season matches, Blizzard employed a team of approximately 80 to 100 people to manage the game and its broadcast. This team included on-screen hosts, interviewers, play-by-play announcers or "shoutcasters", broadcasting and technical support personnel, and "observers" who used the AI cameraman to monitor matches from various angles. Additionally, there were broadcasting and technical support personnel involved in the production. For broadcasting and commentary, Blizzard enlisted individuals such as Christopher "MonteCristo" Mykles, Erik "DoA" Lonnquist, Matt "Mr. X" Morello, and Mitchell "Uber" Leslie to shoutcast the matches. Blizzard released an Overwatch League app in early January 2018, just before the first season commenced. The app provided schedules, results, highlights, and other essential details about the league's progress.

Preseason play for the inaugural season of the Overwatch League commenced on December 6, 2017. The first regular season game took place on January 10, 2018, with the Los Angeles Valiant defeating the San Francisco Shock. The initial night of play through the English broadcast on Twitch garnered over 415,000 viewers, while never dropping below 285,000 once play started. Blizzard reported that during the first week, over 10 million viewers watched league play across all streaming platforms, and the Blizzard Arena was sold-out throughout the entire week. However, by the end of the season, the league faced challenges in filling seats at Blizzard Arena. According to a former esports executive, it was not uncommon to have only around 100 people in the audience. To address this issue, the company resorted to busing in employees or distributing free tickets to students when high-profile individuals like Kotick or other VIPs were expected to attend. However, this approach was seen as incentivizing undesirable behavior, as it artificially inflated attendance numbers to impress potential team owners and sell them on the promise of a thriving live audience.

As the postseason began, Blizzard and Disney signed a deal to air postseason games on ABC, ESPN, and Disney XD alongside the official Twitch streams, with the partnership extending into the second season. During its first season, the league secured over $200 million in sponsorships and broadcast rights. Major sponsors included Intel, Omen by HP, Toyota, T-Mobile, and Spotify, with most deals valued at over $10 million each. The league ultimately exceeded its 2018 projected revenue of $22 million.

The London Spitfire became the first champions of Overwatch League after defeating the Philadelphia Fusion in the Grand Finals, which took place before 22,000 fans at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York on July 27–28. The finals were watched by more than 10.8 million people, with a viewership comparable to regular season NFL games.

In March 2018, Overwatch League executives began to search for new expansion teams, particularly in international markets, as only one team, the Shanghai Dragons were owned by a foreign corporation at the time. Despite initial skepticism and doubts about the league's potential, Overwatch League's revenue had already exceeded expectations, reaching almost four times its original projection from December 2017 to February 2018. The franchise fee for expansion teams was expected to be higher than the inaugural season, estimated to be between $35 million to $60 million. In September 2018, Blizzard announced the addition of eight new teams for the second season: the Atlanta Reign, Guangzhou Charge, Hangzhou Spark, Toronto Defiant, Paris Eternal, Washington Justice, Vancouver Titans, and Chengdu Hunters. This brought the total number of teams in the league to 20.

For the second season, the regular season was split into four stages, and each team played a total of 28 games, with seven games per stage. This reduced the number of games from 40, which was played in the first season, addressing concerns related to player fatigue and mental health. Most regular season games were played at the Blizzard Arena in Los Angeles, but select Homestand Weekends matches took place at locations in Dallas, Atlanta, and Los Angeles, testing the feasibility of home-and-away games for the following season.

In May 2019, during the middle of the season, league commissioner Nate Nanzer announced that he would be leaving Blizzard to join Epic Games. Pete Vlastelica, who was the CEO and president of Activision Blizzard Esports, took over as the league commissioner following Nanzer's departure. The following month, Immortals Gaming Club (IGC), the parent company of the Los Angeles Valiant, acquired Infinite Esports, the parent company of Houston Outlaws, marking the first sale of any Overwatch League franchise. Since one company may not own more than one OWL franchise, IGC sold the Outlaws to the Beasley Media Group in November 2019.

Beginning in the second season, Fanatics became the league's outfitter, responsible for producing and selling team- and OWL-related clothing and merchandise. Blizzard also signed a multi-year deal with Coca-Cola to become the official non-alcoholic beverage sponsor for various Overwatch esports events, including the Overwatch League, Overwatch Contenders, Open Division, Overwatch World Cup, and BlizzCon. Bud Light became the league's alcoholic beverage sponsor, excluding in China. Furthermore, Xfinity signed on as a sponsor for the 2019 Overwatch League playoffs and Grand Finals. Throughout the second season, the overall global viewership was estimated at 218,000 per minute on average across all games, with a majority of viewers coming from outside the United States.

Ahead of the 2020 season, Blizzard signed a three-year deal with YouTube to be the exclusive broadcaster of the Overwatch League. This agreement replaced Twitch as the primary streaming platform for the league's matches. As part of the arrangement, Blizzard also established Google Cloud Platform as the preferred infrastructure provider for the game servers.

In the third season of the Overwatch League, significant changes were made to fully adopt the away-and-home format, allowing games to take place in home arenas for each team. The home arenas were not required to be dedicated esports venues, and some teams collaborated with their local cities to develop such spaces that could also host other sports and entertainment events. For instance, the Philadelphia Fusion's owner, Comcast Spectacor, announced plans to construct the $50 million Fusion Arena by the 2021 season, but during the 2020 season, they scheduled homestand games at the Metropolitan Opera House in Philadelphia and Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City. Throughout the 2020 season, there were 52 homestand events planned, with each team hosting at least two in their home arenas. Teams that already secured larger arenas were set to host additional regular season events to support the newer teams and arenas in becoming better established. For example, Dallas, Washington, and Guangzhou each had five homestand events scheduled.

The initial schedules were managed by the teams, but Blizzard anticipated taking over scheduling for the 2021 season. Blizzard provided flexibility for teams to plan the 2020 schedule and develop logistics for hosting homestand events, including providing accommodations and practice areas for visiting teams during those weekends. This expansion was coordinated with the Call of Duty League (CDL), a professional esports league founded by Activision in 2020, which also followed the city-based model with many teams owned by the same entities as OWL teams. Both leagues faced similar logistics challenges and coordinated efforts when applicable. Moreover, the previously established divisions were converted into conferences, with each conference having two divisions. The stages were eliminated, and teams continued to play 28 games throughout the season with a planned mid-season All-Star break. Looking forward, League Commissioner Pete Vlastelica expressed interest in potential expansion of the league, with a primary focus on introducing more teams from Europe.

Due to the restrictions imposed in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the league had to suspend all homestand events and transitioned to online play just a month into the 2020 season. Blizzard Entertainment announced its intention to return to the homestand format as soon as it was safe and logistically feasible. With the closure of entertainment venues in Los Angeles, the Overwatch League production team, including casters and analysts, moved to remote setups, with everyone working from home for the remainder of the season. As part of the adaptation to the new circumstances, the league abandoned the original conferences and instead organized teams into two regions to account for their geographical locations. Teams exclusively competed within their respective regions during the regular season, and inter-regional matches only occurred at the end of the playoffs period. Additionally, the 2020 season introduced mid-season tournaments, held three times throughout the regular season, all still split by region.

According to two owners, the pandemic had an unexpected positive impact on teams as it halted the financial losses incurred from live events. However, the suspension of in-person games also challenged the league's original justification for its existence, leading some teams to contemplate not paying franchise fees in 2020. Two individuals familiar with the situation revealed that Activision Blizzard permitted teams to postpone the fees and provided a $2 million payroll credit. As part of the agreement, teams were required to sign a release stating they would not pursue legal action against the company, as reported by two other sources.

At the end of the 2020 season, commissioner Pete Vlastelica stepped down to take on a new position. He was replaced by Johanna Faries, the commissioner of the Call of Duty League, who became the commissioner of both leagues.

During the fourth season of the Overwatch League, the league continued to adopt regional, online play due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. However, some live events were initially planned to take place in China. The OWL expanded on its tournament format from the previous year, introducing four midseason tournaments throughout the regular season. In July 2021, the league announced that it would host its two postseason events live at different venues: the playoffs would be held at the Esports Stadium Arlington in Arlington, Texas, and the 2021 Grand Finals would take place at the Galen Center in Los Angeles, California. However, due to increasing risks related to COVID-19 and the Delta variant, as well as visa difficulties, these live events were later canceled and shifted to online play. During the season, the OWL also faced sponsor pullbacks, with many of its partners withdrawing their sponsorships following a lawsuit filed by the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing (DFEH) against Activision Blizzard for sexual harassment and discrimination within the company. Sponsors, such as Coca-Cola, Kellogg's, State Farm, and T-Mobile, withdrew their support from the league. By mid-August 2021, the only sponsor present during Overwatch League broadcasts was voice-over-Internet Protocol software company TeamSpeak.

For the fifth season of the OWL, the league played on an early release of Overwatch 2. The season, which began in early May 2022, faced several challenges on multiple fronts. Notably, there were no known sponsors for the season as of June 9, 2022. Moreover, the league underwent significant changes in its leadership during this time, as five top executives left Activision Blizzard Esports or transitioned to other departments since the start of the season. Furthermore, the company made adjustments to its operations, deciding to outsource its broadcast and event production to a third party. During the midseason tournaments, viewership numbers experienced a significant decrease compared to the previous season, with a reduction of up to 40.5%. However, after the official release of Overwatch 2 on October 5, 2022, the league saw a surge in viewership. The 2022 playoffs reached an live average minute audience of 250,000, surpassing previous viewership records from when the league was broadcast on Twitch in 2018 and 2019. The 2022 Grand Finals were held live at the Anaheim Convention Center in Anaheim, California, marking the first time that the Grand Finals were held live since 2019. In terms of sponsorships, the league secured a deal with Butterfinger for the playoffs, marking their first new sponsorship since 2021.

During the offseason leading up to the 2023 season, the league faced challenges with uncertainties about its future, as broken partnership with NetEase caused disruptions in the East Region as certain Blizzard games, including Overwatch 2, were banned in China. To adapt to this, in the East Region, an "open ecosystem" approach was implemented, allowing Overwatch Contenders teams to compete alongside Overwatch League teams. A preseason pro-am tournament was also held in the West Region, where Overwatch Contenders teams competed against established OWL teams. The regular season was divided into two stages, Spring and Summer, and featured only one midseason tournament. Several teams underwent significant changes in branding and regions during this offseason as well. The Paris Eternal relocated to Las Vegas and rebranded as the Vegas Eternal, making them the first team in the league to switch cities. Similarly, the Philadelphia Fusion shifted their base to Seoul and adopted a new identity as the Seoul Infernal. Not all teams remained intact, as the Chengdu Hunters disbanded.

In January 2023, in an effort to address operating costs and viewership challenges, Overwatch League teams collectively initiated a bargaining process. They enlisted the representation of Sheridans, a British law firm, to negotiate with Activision Blizzard. This collective bargaining process led to an agreement between OverActive Media, the owner of the Toronto Defiant, and the Overwatch League. As part of this agreement, the Toronto Defiant signed a sponsorship deal with the league, and the Overwatch League agreed to waive the outstanding franchise fees owed by all teams.

On July 19, 2023, Activision-Blizzard released its second-quarter earnings report. According to the report, following the conclusion of the 2023 season, franchise owners voted on an updated operating agreement. Should the teams opt not to continue under the updated agreement, a termination fee of $6 million would be payable to each participating team entity, amounting to a total fee of approximately $114 million. On November 8, 2023, an OWL spokesperson confirmed that Blizzard would be transitioning away from its current model and would be working on building a new framework for competitive Overwatch, as a two-thirds majority of OWL franchisees voted to depart from the league. Reports suggested that the league might be operated by a third-party tournament organizer in 2024. On January 23, 2024, Blizzard announced that the Overwatch League was officially folded; on the same day, they announced a multi-year deal with ESL FACEIT Group and WDG Esports to create the Overwatch Champions Series (OWCS) to replace the OWL.