The Overwatch League (OWL) Grand Finals, set for July 27th and 28th at Barclays Center, is sold out; the esports competition will determine the city-based league’s first World Champion. More than 20,000 fans are scheduled to attend the event. The two teams that reach next weekend’s Grand Finals will compete for a share of a $1.4 million prize pool, in addition to the Overwatch League trophy. League Commissioner Nate Nanzer was surprised by the interest, saying “we knew the Overwatch League had amazing, enthusiastic fans, but this is something else.” Tickets are reportedly now selling for upwards of a 300% premium on the resale market.
Howie Long-Short: Blizzard Entertainment put Grand Finals tickets up for sale on May 18th and announced the event was sold out just 2 weeks later (June 1st). While an impressive feat for a league in its first season, fan interest lags far behind that of League of Legends (LoL) and Dota 2. Those titles regularly sell-out marquee events within minutes. In fact, LoL sold over 80,000 seats to its ’17 World Championships within a minute. Selling out Barclays Center allows OWL to finish Year 1 on a high note after watching viewership steadily over the 2nd half of the season, from over 350,000 viewers in Week 1 to +/- 200,000 total viewers for the Quarterfinals.
Blizzard Entertainment (ATVI) is the publisher behind Overwatch and the OWL is their most ambitious esports endeavor. Back on May 3rd, the company reported record Q1 net revenue ($1.97 billion, +14% YoY) and profits that rose 17% YoY (to $500 million); particularly impressive considering they didn’t release any new games during the quarter and Q1 is typically the slowest time of the year as it comes on the heels of holiday season. Any concerns that Fortnite’s popularity would impact OWL profits have yet to be realized. ATVI shares are up 10% (to $80.61) since June 27th, hitting their 52-week high on Friday July 13th ($81.64). The company will report Q2 financials on August 2nd.
Fan Marino: Speaking of viewership, Activision Blizzard (ATVI) has signed a broadcast deal with ESPN to televise OWL action (Season 1 playoffs through Season 2); immediately becoming the esport’s highest profile broadcast platform (they also have a 2-year $90 million deal with Twitch). The newly signed agreement means that next weekend’s Grand Finals will become the first live gaming competition to air on ESPN, in primetime, and the first time an esports championship to air on ABC. For those wondering, last weekend’s quarterfinals on Disney XD drew +/- 127,000 viewers.
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