Blizzard Has Reportedly Sold the First Overwatch League Expansion Spot
Blizzard has reportedly sold the first expansion spot for Season Two of the Overwatch League.
According to a report from ESPN, Blizzard has sold a franchise spot based in Atlanta to a group funded by Cox Enterprises, a conglomerate based in Georgia.
The news comes shortly after a previous report that Blizzard is close to finalizing deals for spots in Paris, France and Guangzhou, China. It is anticipated that Blizzard will seek up to six new expansion teams for Season Two, so there could be three further locations yet to be revealed.
Expansion spots are expected to sell for between $30-60 million, depending on factors such as the number of bidders for a given spot, the Overwatch player density in that location and the general population.
The buy-in price is a significant raise on the reported $20 million buy-in for Season One. Where previously the league was an ambitious project with no track record and an uncommon model for esports, Blizzard now has a season in which the league exceeded expectations in every parameter with which to negotiate.
Season Two of the Overwatch League isn’t expected to begin until 2019, but expansion teams will have an exclusive free agent signing window from September 9-October 7, so any new teams are likely to have been officially announced before then.