When first announced, a major selling point of the Overwatch League (OWL) was its esports-unique city-based league format that would be pave the way to home-and-away contests in 2020.
The league is still on track to have each team hold home games next season, but just not in the way it was first assumed.
As unveiled by the OWL on Tuesday, each team in the league will get the chance to host two “homestand weekend events” in 2020.
We're hitting the road for #OWL2020 with 52 team-hosted events, 280 matches, and one champion. Here's a look at our 2020 season format.
Tag the team you're most excited to watch in their home city!
Learn more: https://t.co/3iYg0giVvX pic.twitter.com/B2QXgdaAIt
— Overwatch League (@overwatchleague) July 16, 2019
First done by the Dallas Fuel in late April this year, a homestand weekend is exactly what it sounds like: an opportunity for teams not based in Los Angeles (where the vast majority of OWL play has taken place over the league’s first two seasons) to host a league event.
Therefore, instead of a traditional travel schedule as done by teams seen in traditional sports leagues such as the NHL and NBA, this gives each team two weekends to properly be in their respective markets. This is way of doing home games, given the fact there are seven teams outside of North America (five in Asia and two in Europe), makes more logistical sense.
It will also give teams an opportunity to plan ahead and try to make the most of the opportunity to be in front of their own fans.
“What it does it is puts us in a place where we can build a festival-like, tentpole event with our Overwatch team and really celebrate the Defiant with our fans over that period of time,” said Chris Overholt, president and CEO of Toronto Defiant ownership group OverActive Media.
“I personally think it’s a better format than what we anticipated at first and I’m just excited to roll out what we have planned,” added Tim Holloway, Vancouver Titans ownership group Aquilini Entertainment’s director of esports. “Our homestand weekends are going to be more of an electric atmosphere, festival-type vibe with giveaways, music activations and something that will really hopefully build out just an amazing fan experience.”
The full 2020 schedule isn’t expected to be officially unveiled until next month with ticketing information for each team’s respective homestand weekends to follow shortly afterwards. Additionally, the “stage” format of competition the OWL has been operating under for these past two seasons will be abolished next season.
Titans, Defiant home venues
With word of how home games will function next season, it naturally begs the question: “Where will teams be hosting these homestand weekends?”
Specifically, in regards to the Canadian clubs, we have one obvious venue and another that remains unknown.
For the Titans, it’s pretty simple. They’re a team owned by the same people who own the Vancouver Canucks and Rogers Arena, so that’s where they’re going to play.
A 19,000-seat arena, this is a massive facility that may run into the issue of not being able to sell out, an issue Aquilini Entertainment acknowledges but is confident they’ll be able to overcome.
“It’s not a worry but it’s definitely on our radar,” said Holloway when asked about concerns over not being able to sell out Rogers Arena. “Something I really want to highlight is the engagement part of it and the fan experience – the community experience – is our No. 1 thing that we want to do and is what we’re focused on. I think when that’s the core thing that’s driving [us to believe] it’s gonna be very good product in the end.”
The homestand weekend format should, ultimately, help the Titans try to sell out Rogers Arena as they’ll only really have to worry about four dates on the calendar to sell out as opposed to 10 or more, which it would be in a traditional home-and-away format.
Not to mention, because these homestand weekends will be viewed upon more as big events, there’s optimism that the Titans brand will be able to grow outside of a core Overwatch esports fan base.
“I think the biggest thing is just the education part of this,” said Holloway. “I think people who maybe aren’t Overwatch fans today are going to be singing a different tune next year when they actually come and hear the roar of the crowd. It’s something that just overtakes you.”
This is a sentiment shared by Overholt with the Defiant, only at the moment it’s looking much murkier just how they’ll be able to accomplish this all as they still haven’t announced a venue for next season.
It was expected that an announcement for the Defiant’s venue would be coming sometime this summer, a timeline that appears to remain on track with Overholt telling Sportsnet that an announcement would be coming “soon” and that OverActive Media was “still working out details.”
This isn’t a lot to go on, but given the fact the league just announced these homestand weekends and said ticketing information would likely be coming next month and an announcement of the Defiant’s home should just be around the corner.
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Odds and ends
• Just a few days before Canada Day, the Defiant officially announced its first Canadian signing in Liam “Mangachu” Campbell, a DPS player from Oakville, Ont., who has competed for Canada in the last two Overwatch World Cups.
“I think [Mangachu’s] a fine representative of where we want to go and the type and quality of player that we wanted to be able to attract to this team,” said Overholt.
Canada, we've got an early #CanadaDay present for you! Please welcome our new DPS player, Canadian born and raised, @Mangachu_! #RiseTogether | #OWL2019 pic.twitter.com/ITfndVV60c
— Toronto Defiant (@TorontoDefiant) June 28, 2019
• Though they lost to eventual Stage 3 champions Shanghai Dragons in the Stage 3 playoffs, the Titans are unbelievably good, having just dropped one match in regular-season play all season long thus far.
Stage 4 is set to start July 25 with both the Defiant and Titans opening their respective Stage 4s on July 26.
• Stage 4 will be the last “stage” as we know it in the OWL as league also announced on Tuesday that the 2020 season will no longer be split into stages.
• Also announced on Tuesday was that 2020 will see teams split up further into divisions in addition to conferences. They are as follows:
Atlantic Conference
North Division
Boston Uprising
London Spitfire
New York Excelsior
Paris Eternal
Toronto Defiant
South Division
Atlanta Reign
Florida Mayhem
Houston Outlaws
Philadelphia Fusion
Washington Justice
Pacific Conference
East Division
Chengdu Hunters
Guangzhou Charge
Hangzhou Spark
Shanghai Dragons
Seoul Dynasty
West Division
Dallas Fuel
Los Angeles Valiant
Los Angeles Gladiators
San Francisco Shock
Vancouver Titans
There are no plans for further expansion for the 2020 season.
• Lastly, though not Overwatch related, it looks like we can likely expect more details on the forthcoming Toronto-based Call of Duty esports team that was announced in the spring in September.
“On the other side of labour day I think we’ll have a lot to share with you then,” said Overholt.