Pro Gaming Goes Mainstream

HOW ACTIVISION BLIZZARD IS BANKING ON ITS NEW OVERWATCH LEAGUE TO HELP IT BECOME THE ESPN OF ESPORTS.

- Janet Stilson

Advertisers will soon have another big opportunity to sponsor professional sports teams, but these teams will duke it out on the virtual battlefield. The Overwatch League will launch on Activision Blizzard’s streamed network MLG.tv in January as esports’ first foray into organizing professional gamers into teams based in cities, like the MLB and NFL.

Overwatch is part of a $1.5 billion esports industry, per research firm SuperData, and with its new Overwatch League, Activision is looking to increase its chunk of that pie in three ways, according to Laura Martin, managing director and media analyst at Needham & Co. “It’s selling team [Overwatch] franchise fees at $20 million each. Secondly, there will be a live event revenue stream, and third, it will improve engagement and enthusiasm.”

By professionalizing Overwatch, which is based on an existing game that has more than 35 million players worldwide, Activision is making it easier for traditional advertisers to spend on esports. “It’s been largely small scale [to date]. Now the shows are more spectacular. The production values are going up. The audience is increasing,” explained Joost van Dreunen, CEO of SuperData.