They were standing, joyfully booing, booting and boozing. It turns out that New York esports fans don’t vary a lot from their traditional sports fans.
The Overwatch League’s hypothesis has been confirmed by these sponsored fans, who filled an almost 2,000-seater arena across the road from Madison Square Garden.
Jon Spector, vice president of the professional video gaming network, said: “This is all we could have hoped for.”
The OWL opened their third season in February with franchising matches in New York and Dallas, and it seemed like a payoff from the shows of the resurrected players that could be driven to the top of a thriving market by a multinational town-based system.
Both festivals were the first of 52 home-and-out events to bring competitions to 20 venues throughout Europe, North America and Asia. There has not been such a difficult professional league— sports and other things.
The League claims it has taken appropriate action to realize burnout in the stars of its six against six first-person shooter computer game, which earn an average of more than $100 000 a season, while many fans are concerned about their wellbeing — some are still teenagers.
Of note, this world-trotting journey is always an experiment the OWL always readily admits.
The upside of the attempt was evident at the Hammerstein Ballroom in Midtown Manhattan. There were over $100 spent by fans on two-day passes and double-header matches came to force. The squadron was set in four teams–New York, Boston, London and Paris–and fans were almost full for the undercards.
It looked like a traditional, rude crowd of sports — with team gear from the stand, waiting for pizzas and drinks during action lulls, and ruthlessly sniffing off the rival Boston upliftment every chance.
Farzam Kamel, co-founder and Andbox president who run the New York Excelsior, says: “The audience has always been here.”
Blizzard Entertainment was hoping that when it decided to globally misrepresent the global esports trend. OWL-backed by Blizzard believes that the future of the company requires delivering live events to participating partners throughout the year. while other esports, like the decadal League of Legends, have thrived with rootless franchises.
Blizzard started its city project early this year, after staging nearly all of its match in seasons one and two in a facility near Los Angeles. During a 26-week regular season in early August, each franchise will be hosted between two and five weekends of competition.
The League opposed these figures strongly and maintains that its scheduling was flexible enough to keep players fresh.
In mid-January, Paris had players report to team accommodation, which they will use as a base for the beginning of the season. During swings across Europe and Asia, they will get similar set-ups.
