After leading Canadasa国际传媒檚 Olympic charge for seven years, Chris Overholt is now looking to help Toronto make its mark on the esports map.
Overholt, who stepped down as CEO of the Canadian Olympic Committee on Wednesday, has wasted little time resurfacing as president and CEO of OverActive Media which has acquired the rights to bring an Overwatch League franchise to Toronto.
Vancouver is also joining the league, with Canucks Sports & Entertainment chairman Francesco Aquilini at the helm.
sa国际传媒淥verwatch,sa国际传媒� a team-based first-person shooter with its own quirky style, has spawned a blue-chip esports league backed by big names and big money.
There are currently 12 teams: Boston Uprising, Florida Mayhem, Houston Outlaws, London Spitfire, New York Excelsior and Philadelphia Fusion in the Atlantic Division and Dallas Fuel, Los Angeles Gladiators, Los Angeles Valiant, San Francisco Shock, Seoul Dynasty and Shanghai Dragons in the Pacific Division.
Other expansion franchises for 2019 are Washington, D.C., Paris, and Chengdu and Hangzhou, China. Atlanta and Guangzhou, China, joined the fold last month.
sa国际传媒淭he Overwatch Leaguesa国际传媒檚 inaugural season was a great success,sa国际传媒� said Bobby Kotick, CEO of Activision Blizzard. sa国际传媒淭his past season alone, fans spent 160 million hours watching the leading Overwatch players in the world compete.
sa国际传媒淲e are thrilled to add eight new outstanding team owners from Europe, China, and North America to our Overwatch League ownership group. We now have 20 of the very best owners in professional sports.sa国际传媒�
The Toronto group is headed by tech entrepreneur Sheldon Pollack, venture capitalist Adam Adamou and the Kimel family led by Michael Kimel as principal owner. Kimel is a co-founder of the Chase Hospitality Group.
Those already holding Overwatch ownership stakes include New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft, New York Mets COO Jeff Wilpon (New York) and Kroenke Sports & Entertainment (L.A. Gladiators), whose sports empire includes Arsenal, the Los Angeles Rams, Denver Nuggets and Colorado Avalanche and Comcast Spectacor which owns the Philadelphia Flyers (Philadelphia Fusion).
The original cost of a franchise was pegged at US$20 million with reports suggesting the next round would go for a minimum of $35 million.
Related:
Related:
The London Spitfire won the inaugural league championship sa国际传媒� and $1 million sa国际传媒� in July, defeating Philadelphia 3-0 at a soldout Barclays Center in Brooklyn, N.Y. Philadelphia collected $400,000 as runner-up.
The sa国际传媒淕rand Finalssa国际传媒� were streamed worldwide via Twitch, in China on ZhanQi TV, NetEase CC, and Panda TV, and broadcast to U.S. audiences on ESPN, ESPN2, ESPN3, and Disney XD, along with a highlights show the next day on ABC.
The estimated global average minute audience across both days was 861,205.
The league is the brainchild of Overwatch developer Blizzard Entertainment, whose gaming portfolio also includes sa国际传媒淲orld of Warcraftsa国际传媒� and sa国际传媒淪tarCraft.sa国际传媒� Blizzard says Overwatch is the fastest of its titles to reach more than 30 million players.
sa国际传媒淭he Overwatch League has visionary leadership, strong franchises, and connects with millions of players globally,sa国际传媒� Aquilini said in a statement. sa国际传媒淲esa国际传媒檙e pleased to have the opportunity to expand into esports and we cansa国际传媒檛 wait to launch the team in Vancouver, which will also represent fans across the Pacific Northwest, including Seattle and Portland.sa国际传媒�
Overwatch franchise owners clearly see the league as a chance to get in what is close to on the ground floor of a burgeoning field. Citing a Goldman Sachs report, the Toronto group says esports are on track to reach nearly 300 million viewers globally by 2022.
sa国际传媒淎s a space in sports and entertainment, it really is exploding,sa国际传媒� Overholt said in an interview. sa国际传媒淚 donsa国际传媒檛 know whether wesa国际传媒檝e seen anything like it ever before.sa国际传媒�
The league plans to continue staging its games at Blizzardsa国际传媒檚 esports arena in Burbank, Calif., in 2019 with plans to stage games in the franchise cities in 2020. Overholt says his group is already looking at possible local venues.
There is a lot to do in not much time.
sa国际传媒淣obody understands that better than me right now,sa国际传媒� he said with a laugh.
Free agency in the league opens this weekend.
sa国际传媒淲e think wesa国际传媒檙e fine and wesa国际传媒檙e going to be well-positioned to wade right into the free agent market and see what we can put together,sa国际传媒� said Overholt. sa国际传媒淏ut we feel good about not only putting a team together, (but) putting a competitive team together right out of the gate.sa国际传媒�
Under Overwatch League rules, teams sign players to one-year guaranteed contracts with a one-year option. The minimum annual salary is $50,000 sa国际传媒� the CFL minimum is C$54,000 sa国际传媒� with health insurance, a retirement savings plan, and housing/practice facilities also provided during the season.
OverActive Media Group used to be The Ledger Group, rebranding in April to sa国际传媒渢o reflect its focus on the ownership of esports platforms.sa国际传媒�
The company has already invested in Splyce Inc., a professional esports team involved in sa国际传媒淟eague of Legends,sa国际传媒� sa国际传媒淐all of Dutysa国际传媒� and sa国际传媒淗alosa国际传媒� leagues. It also has interests in Askott Entertainment Inc., a leading esports gaming company, and Enthusiast Gaming Inc., an esports media company.
Overholt worked for London Life Insurance before joining Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment in 1996 as the Raptorssa国际传媒� director of corporate marketing before being promoted to vice-president, sales and service, looking after both the Raptors and Maple Leafs. He went on to join the NHLsa国际传媒檚 Florida Panthers as chief marketing officer and executive vice-president of business operations and the NFLsa国际传媒檚 Miami Dolphins as vice-president of corporate partnerships and broadcasting.
MLSE has already got into the esports space via Raptors Uprising GC, a member of the NBA 2K League. It also has a FIFA soccer gamer representing Toronto FC. The Montreal Impact and Vancouver Whitecaps also have soccer gamers.
The NHL is the next league expected to get into the esports field.
Toronto and Vancouver have already both staged successful gaming events.
Scotiabank Arena hosted the North American sa国际传媒淟eague of Legendssa国际传媒� championship in 2016, with the two-day event selling out in under a minute.
Vancouversa国际传媒檚 Rogers Arena recently hosted the International Dota 2 Championships with more than $25 million up for grabs.
Neil Davidson, The Canadian Press
Like us on and follow us on .
