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Posted: July 26, 2018 8:00 am Updated: Jul 26, 2018 16:30
NEW YORK (AP) – ESPN is about to make a major trade this weekend: LeBron for Lucio. Brady for Bastion. Serena for Soldier: 76.
The largest sports platform in North America is ready to accept competitive play, and it bets that traditional sports fans are too.
Overwatch League, a circuit of esports with teams on three continents. Its inaugural championship lives in prime time on ESPN this Friday, with the Philadelphia Fusion facing London Spitfire. This will be the first time that Disney's branded sports channel will offer competitive games in this niche, and it is likely to do more during a two-year contract signed with Overwatch this month. ci
. Blizzard Entertainment's personal shooter, and the latest indicator that esports are ready to sneak into the American mainstream. The industry has converted a number of notable believers in recent years, including Overwatch franchise investors like Robert Kraft, owner of New England Patriots, Jeff Wilpon, chief executive of New York Mets, Stan Kroenke, owner of the Los Angeles Rams
. decades, especially in South Korea. But is the North American public really willing to invest time and money to watch other people play video games? It's a matter of a billion dollars, literally – the Newzoo market analyst projects that the industry will make $ 1.7 billion in revenue by 2021. [19659003] For those who can not tell a D.Va bomb from a pig, here's what you should know before video games jump from PC to prime time.
WHAT IS ESPORTS?
Video players compete in digital supremacy with Pong and Pac-Man, but competitive games escape more and more multiplayer battles. First-person shooters, strategy games, and battle royals have become the industry's favorite, with athletes competing individually or as a team to eliminate their opponents and reach their goals. their goals. Although many players enjoy playing on Xbox or Playstation, most competitive players are played on PCs. League of Legends, DOTA 2, Counter Strike and Overwatch have been the most popular esport titles in recent years
WHAT IS OVERWATCH?
Overwatch is a first-person shooter released by Blizzard in 2016 with esports in mind. It features teams of six players competing to protect designated areas from enemy capture or move payloads safely through complex maps. Players can choose from 27 characters – like Lucio, a scintillating DJ whose music can hurt opponents and heal the allies, or Bastion, a robot that can turn into a devastating sentinel gun.
Each game takes about 10 minutes, and the Overwatch League games consist of five games. The first team to win two Grand Final matches will be crowned champion
WHY ARE ROBERT KRAFT AND JEFF WILPON INTERESTED IN THE OVERWATCH LEAGUE?
Traditional sports investors like Kraft and Wilpon have seen huge financial potential for esports. Blizzard convinced them to buy by reinventing the esports scene, especially by giving the Overwatch League a familiar structure to North American sports fans.
Esports in Asia and Europe have generally been based in clubs, with teams at risk of relegating to smaller leagues. Overwatch League uses permanent franchises based in cities – just like the NFL or the NBA – but on a global scale. Currently, the league has 12 teams spread over three continents, and is planning an expansion for season 2.
The urban structure attracted sports traditionalists, which led to Kraft and Wilpon having franchises in Boston and New York respectively. . . Investors also appreciated the league's generous revenue-sharing system
IS SPORTS SPORTS?
It depends on who you ask, and frankly, it's not clear that it matters.
"It's a good semantic argument." President Tucker Roberts said. "Honestly, yes."
Video games require physical skills. Even through the Overwatch League, there is a range of natural abilities, with some players enjoying better reactions and coordination. Overwatch is also heavy on team work and strategy. People in the industry like to compare esports to darts, billiards or chess.
"There is a difference between a sport that looks like the most athletic sport, of course," Roberts said. "But I think the most important question is not the semantics of whether it's a sport, that is, what does it mean to say?" to be a competition and what is the importance of the stakes of the competition "know, work harder than any athlete I've ever met."
For the industry The argument is of importance only to the extent that it affects visibility. If traditional sports giants like ESPN are on board, who cares what you call them?
WHY ESPN WANTS TO ENTER?
For one, ESPN definition of the sport can become fragile. The network featured events such as the Scripps National Spelling Bee, the World Series of Poker and the International Drum Corps Championships. ESPN has also broadcast football and football video games in the past, but never in prime time.
There is good reason to think that people will be listening. other markets. For example, South Korea has entire television networks devoted to esports, and gaming events regularly attract tens of thousands of participants. Korean superstars live lavish lifestyles, with great players reaching a status similar to that of LeBron James in America.
ESPN wants to attract more viewers Millennial and Gen-Z, and competitive play seems to be an obvious connection point. Between 100,000 and 150,000 fans watched every second of the regular season of Overwatch League on the Twitch streaming service, and 10 million viewers watched the opening weekend of the league.
ESPN is not the only Games. The International Olympic Committee is also exploring ways to partner with the esports industry, even holding a forum this month to bring together leaders, players, sponsors and organizers of the event. 39; events. Nate Nanzer, Commissioner of the Overwatch League, was among the panelists who spoke at the event
HOW DO YOU BECOME A PRO GAMER?
Like everything else, it's mostly a question of talent and work. have multiple levels of competition, including lower level leagues, tournaments and invitations. Getting discovered varies through the games. For example, the Overwatch League has an "open" division, in which amateur teams can participate to participate in regional championships. One step above this is the Overwatch Contenders League, which is a bit like Triple-A. The League of Contenders is composed in part of what was previously the largest international circuits of Overwatch, such as APEX in Korea and Premier Series in China
. Practice schedules vary by team, but most players practice six days a week, at least six hours a day, during the seven-month season.
WHAT DOES A SURVEILLANCE DIFFUSION LOOK LIKE?
Chaotic, especially. And for those who have never played, the action can be difficult to follow. It's fast, jumping from player to player depending on the focal point of the action. Even Wilpon, who has watched a few games in person in Los Angeles, admits to being "usually a half-step behind" action.
Some want the league to develop two broadcasts – one for Overwatch experts, another for beginners. For now, however, the same coverage will continue on ESPN and Twitch, which could leave some new fans feeling overwhelmed
WH WHAT IS FORTNITE ADJUSTED?
The emergence of Overwatch in North America this year has been overshadowed in many ways by Fortnite, a Royal Battle Contest of Epic Games that shook the industry. It has become the most popular video game in the world, and Epic is trying to convert all of these players into a public of hope by offering $ 100 million in prizes for Fortnite tournaments next year.
A major challenge for games like Overwatch is to maintain visibility amid rising competitors like Fortnite. Blizzard is optimistic, though. He specializes in games with lasting power – like World of Warcraft, Hearthstone and StarCraft – and plans to continually update Overwatch with new characters, maps, and other features to keep fans' interest for decades.
Commissioner Nanzer also bet in the league infrastructure will be an asset. Indeed, while Overwatch is about to make a breakthrough on ESPN, the very first Fortnite Summer Tournament has proved nearly impossible due to technical problems and conservative play. told the Associated Press after Epic announced its $ 100 million prize pool.
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Follow Jake Seiner on Twitter: https://twitter.com/jake_seiner
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