Overwatch League Adds New Teams For 2021
Complete guide for those of you who may be unfamiliar with the teams from the Overwatch League.
Overwatch League The Inaugural Season which started on January 12, 2021 yesterday made some people’s views about eSports change. Teams from Los Angeles, California to Shanghai, China participated in the Overwatch League last season.
This year Blizzard released some information regarding the Overwatch League. In the previous season, players knew as many as 12 teams competed in this event, in this second season Blizzard added up to 20 teams to compete.
For those of you who don’t know, the teams that competed in the inaugural were required to pay 20 million US$ to enter the Overwatch League, while for the new team it was reported that they were required to pay up to 30 million US$ to enter. You can read in full here the Overwatch League expansion slots price
Entering the second season of the Overwatch League, we have summarized which teams have made it into the Overwatch League.
We can’t wait for the #OWL2019 seasons!
Here are the 8 new teams joining the league! pic.twitter.com/zhkrNYDlko
— Overwatch League (@overwatchleague) September 7, 2021
Vancouver British Columbia – Canada
Team Vancouver is the last team to be announced in the Overwatch League and is fully owned by an investment company Canucks Sports and Entertainment, Aquilini Investment Group who also invested his money in Vancouver Canucks and Rogers Arena, which is where The International is held this year.
Toronto, Ontario – Canada
The Toronto team was first announced last August and was finally confirmed a month later. This team is funded by investors Penguins, Michael Kimel and also his family, esorts organisasi organization Splyce who works with OverActive Media Group, an unnamed entrepreneur from Toronto, and Westdate Construction. Rumors abound that this slot for the Toronto team sold for 35 million US$ with Splyce who controls the operations of the team and also owns a 10% stake. In early September, it was reported that Chris Overholt became the President of this Toronto team who had previously been the CEO of Canadian Olympic Committee. In addition, several positions have also been reported for this Toronto team, such as Jaesun “Jae” Won who became General Manager, and Beoumjun “Bishop” Lee who became Head Coach.
Washington, District of Columbia – United States
The group just created, Washington Esports Ventures led by owner Washington Castles, Mark Ein. Ein himself is also one of the minor owners of aXiomatic which is the parent company of Team Liquid. Kate Mitchell who was the General Manager of the team Last Night’s Leftovers will be the Assistant Manager of this Washington DC team. Former New York Excelsior coach Jyeong-seok “Wizardhyeong” Kim rumored to be the Head Coach of this team. As for players, only Joon-hwa “Janus” Song only recently rumored to be a core player of this Washington team, where previously Janus played for the New York Excelsior team.
Atlanta, Georgia – United States
Team Atlanta finally sold to Atlanta Esports Venture Group funded by Cox Enterprises. Under the direct auspices of Cox brands, such as Cox Communications, Cox Media Group which has television, radio, and newspaper broadcasts, and also Cox Automotive who operates Autotrader and also Kelley Blue Book. The Atlanta team will be operated by Atlanta Esports Venture in collaboration with Cox and Provinces, Inc. Paul Hamilton who became President and CEO of Atlanta Esports Venture announces former coach from San Francisco Shock Brad “Sephy” Rajani will be the Head oac of this team, and Dimitri “Silence” Couturet will become Assistant Coach. Not only that, Former team coach One.PointT, Cas “Casores” van Ander will become a Player Development Coach.
Chengdu, Sichuan – China
The team from Chengdu will be owned by the Chinese Streaming Platform, namely Huya who also owns full rights to WESG as well as investors from Tencent. Chengdu will be the last team to be included in the second season of the Overwatch League roster. There is no information about players and coaches for the team yet.
Hangzhou, Zhejiang – China
Hangzhou team owned by bilibili, a company engaged in online entertainment in China, where the company provides various forms of media formats, ranging from video, live broadcasting, to mobile games. As with the team from Chengdu, there is no further information about anything from the Hangzhou team.
Guangzhou, Guangdong – China
The first announced team, the Guangzhou team is owned and operated by nenking group, which is a financial and entertainment conglomerate owned by Zhong Naixiong. Not only that, the Nengking Group also has Guangzhou Long Lions from Chinese Basketball Association. Similar to the previous two Chinese teams, the Guangzhou team has also not announced anything regarding their coach and roster.
Paris, France – Europe
Along with the Guangzhou team, Paris also became the first team to be announced in the Overwatch League. This position for Paris was bought by McCourt Global, a company based in Los Angeles that is the owner of football french club, Olympique de Marseille and all operations for the Los Angeles Marathon. Until now, the French team has also not provided more information about the roster of players and coaches.
With the addition of these eight teams, the total number of teams competing in the Overwatch League is 20. Among them are 11 from the United States, 2 from Canada, 2 from Europe, and 5 from Asia. The league reportedly has plans to dispatch the teams to play in their respective regions before 2021, meaning each team will be required to choose a venue to play in their city.
Source: Esports Insider
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