Blizzard Entertainment Inc.’s esports league based on its first-person shooter game, “Overwatch,” has launched its second season with eight new teams, bringing the league up to 20 teams.
The additions feature three squads from China, two each from the U.S. and Canada, and one in France.
They include:
• Chengdu Hunters, operated by livestreaming provider HUYA Inc. (NYSE: HUYA)
• Guangzhou Charge, owned by Nenking Group, which also owns the Guangzhou Long-Lions basketball team
• Hangzhou Spark, owned by Bilibili, one of China’s larger video sharing sites with more than 90 million monthly visitors
• Washington Justice, owned by Washington Esports Ventures
• Atlanta Reign, owned by Cox Enterprises, which has partnered with Atlanta Esports Ventures
• Vancouver Titans, owned by Aquilini Investment Group, which owns the NHL’s Vancouver Canucks
• Toronto Defiant, run by OverActive Media Group, which partnered with esports organization Splyce
• Paris Eternal, operated by DM Esports, which specializes in esports entertainment and investments
The expansion could generate close to $240 million in franchise fees for Blizzard, OC’s largest software maker in revenue and local employment count, if figures cited by national reports prove correct.
Last year, ESPN reported that expansion slots could cost potential owners between $30 million and $60 million each. The first 12 ownership teams, a mix of entertainment, sports and media conglomerates that launched the Overwatch League last January at Burbank Studios, paid $20 million for each franchise, according to those reports.
The prize pool for the 2019 season totals $5 million, up from $3.5 million a year ago, and will be allocated based on playoff success. Several new sponsors were announced last month, including Coca-Cola, Toyota, State Farm and Intel. T-Mobile and HP are returning sponsors.
Overwatch is a team-based, 6-on-6 first-person shooter video game; most teams have between eight and ten players on their roster. The regular season runs about five weeks and includes 28 games for each team, followed by playoffs.
It’s the first major global professional esports league with city-based teams.
Blizzard, the creator of the World of Warcraft, last year grew revenue 7% to $2.3 billion, while operating income fell 3.7% to $685 million.
The company last month announced it would make 209 job cuts in Irvine enacted by its Santa Monica parent Activision Blizzard Inc. (Nasdaq: ATVI), which is looking to reduce about 8% of its overall workforce. The Irvine unit entered the year with an estimated 2,000 workers, about 100 of those dedicated to its Overwatch franchise, according to reports.
For the Win
Ingram Micro Inc., Orange County’s largest revenue producer, has announced the finalists for its first annual Comet Competition, which aims to “identify and support the most promising B2B technology startups in the world.”
The competition, which the Business Journal reported on last month, is being held in partnership with Boston-based startup accelerator MassChallenge Inc., and underscores Ingram’s efforts to discover startups, their emerging technologies and bring them to its growing, online global marketplace and proliferate it with breakthrough applications.
Ingram is particularly interested in emerging companies that specialize in cybersecurity, infrastructure management, middleware, manufacturing tech, retail tech, Internet of Things and financial tech applications.
Cloud-related applications are also a focus. The Irvine-based tech products distributor is looking to boost its cloud business, which now generates more than $1 billion in annual revenue.
The segment hosts and manages an e-commerce platform and web store for more than 45,000 value-added resellers and managed service providers, and is Ingram’s fastest-growing business segment, though it only represents a small fraction of the company’s annual sales, which tops $46 billion.
More than 300 contestants from the Boston, Tel Aviv and Austin competitions were initially evaluated on several criteria, including vision, industry impact, and potential in the channel.
The finalists from Tel Aviv include three cybersecurity firms, Verifyoo, Perimeter 81 and ITsMine, and medical device maker EyeControl. The Austin finalists include IoT startup ClearBlade Inc., manufacturer re:3D Inc., medical device maker Sempulse, and enterprise software maker The Mentor Method LLC. Boston finalists include cybersecurity firm Pixm Inc., enterprise software maker addapptation LLC, e-commerce and logistics provider On Rout, and Boxologic.com, which provides robotic, instant packaging services.
Ingram said it won’t necessarily take an ownership position in the winners, which are in line for $1.5 million in funding.
The finals of the Comet Competition will be held March 11 to 13 at the 2019 Ingram Micro Cloud Summit in San Diego.
