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The first two franchises, the Boston Uprising and the New York Excelsior, were purchased by organizations related to Robert K. Kraft, owner of the New England Patriots, and Jeff Wilpon, chief operating officer of the New York Mets and son of the 'team. main owner. The leaders of the Los Angeles Rams, Philadelphia Flyers and Sacramento Kings quickly joined the ranks of the owners. E-sport specialists have also joined: Cloud9 owns the London Spitfire, which won the first championship.
Kraft's son, Jonathan, chairman of the Kraft group, said his organization was interested in electronic sports, but he was uncomfortable acquiring contracts with individual players rather than a franchise. permed.
He was influenced by the field of the Overwatch League, which, like a professional sports league, follows detailed statistics on teams and players, has a regular broadcast schedule, a post-season and deals with players. (This season, his second best player has been traded with another team.)
"It's no longer the Wild West," said Jonathan Kraft about the Overwatch League. "There is a structure. There is the substance. "
Overwatch fans can easily coalesce geographic allegiances, but they will have a hard time seeing their team in person. All teams, including New York, Boston and Philadelphia – not to mention Shanghai and Seoul – actually play just outside of Los Angeles.
This year, every game of the regular season took place in a 450-seat electronic gym in Burbank, California. The teams could move into the local arena during the third season of the league, in 2020.
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