Overwatch League announcement brings hype and skepticism alike

The first major Overwatch League announcement since its introduction at Blizzcon last year came last week, when Blizzard finally introduced the first seven Overwatch League teams. Reactions have been very positive for the most part. Immortals, NRG and Misfits all took to Twitter in celebratory fashion shortly after the announcement, taking a moment to introduce themselves as the Overwatch League team for their respective cities. Owners, players and fans are excited to see what the future holds for Blizzard’s ambitious esports league.

Perhaps the most important change that Overwatch League brings to the industry is localization for teams. Everything else stems from here; the revenue sharing, the sponsors, no relegation, all of it. Immortals CEO, Noah Whinston, has been very vocal about the importance of localization and owning the Los Angeles team. In a video that Immortals released on Twitter, Whinston highlighted the significance of growing a local fanbase that has a tangible connection to the Immortals Overwatch team. Think of the difference between chatting about your favorite baseball team online versus going out to the game, buying a hat, grabbing a hot dog and cheering your team to victory alongside thousands of other fans. That’s the sort of connection that these owners are going for.