Joining the Overwatch eSports League Will Cost Big

Overwatch just ended its first professional run, with the London Spitfires managing to beat out the competition (who was someone, and I don’t feel like looking it up) and becoming crowned the kings of season one. And now that we’ve had our fun and our surprisingly low ratings (seriously, in the great scheme of things not that many people were watching), Blizzard and all their fans are excitedly looking forward to what Season 2 will bring. While the 12 existing teams are likely to return, Blizzard has announced that it’s now possible to expand the league, and they’re offering anyone or any company the chance to sponsor their own team to join the next split.

ESPN reported not too long ago that one such ‘expansion slot’ has already been claimed by an Atlanta-based media conglomerate called Cox Media (Please call yourselves the Atlanta Coxs. Please). Now, if you recall, buying into the first season cost each company around $20 million, which was an exorbitant amount of money considering it was an untested eSports scene. And now that Overwatch has “proven” its eSport viability, they’re jacking up the price to somewhere between $30 to $60 million USD.

That… is a big number.

The difference between $30 and $60 million is pretty big, so ESPN pointed out that the price goes up or down depending on number of bidders, player density, as well as the general population. So coming from Atlanta, the Coxes probably had to pay on the higher end of that estimation to secure their slot in the upcoming season.

We don’t know how many companies are interested in this particular bargain, or how many expansion slots are available to be bid on, but one thing is for sure: Blizzard is going to be rolling in the cash by the time this is settled.

Maybe they can use that to invest in some camera time for the support champs.