This last week, we saw the Overwatch League kick off at the Blizzard Arena in Los Angeles, with four days of competition taking place between 12 teams in the inaugral major global city-based professional esports league.
Following on from the recent announcement of a two-year deal to broadcast on Twitch, the Overwatch League’s first event saw an average of 408,000 viewers per minute, with an average of 280,000 per minute for the entire week. Over 10 million viewers tuned into outlets such as Twitch, MLG and Chinese streaming partners such as Panda TV, NetEase CC and ZhanQi TV. The peak concurrent online audience hit 437,000 on Twitch and MLG alone during the match between Dallas Fuel and Seoul Dynasty. Tickets were also sold out at the Blizzard Arena too, for the entire week.
Pete Vlastelica, president and CEO of Major League Gaming (MLG), commented: “We’re thrilled by the overwhelming response to the Overwatch League’s opening week of play. But this is only the beginning. With more than 35 million Overwatch® players, the Overwatch League has the potential to become one of the most-watched leagues—of any kind—in the world.”
Overwatch League commissioner Nate Nanzer added: “Since we announced Overwatch League at BlizzCon 2016, we’ve been eagerly awaiting the day when the global competitive Overwatch community could come together under one banner. Opening week was that coming-out party—for the fans, both in-person at Blizzard Arena Los Angeles and tuned in by the millions all over the world, and for the players, whose love for the game came through crystal clear.”
Overwatch is now available on PC, PS4 and Xbox One.
