A few days ago there were leaks reporting two more spots have been secured for the Overwatch League, making the total count of teams to nine. The two spots are secured by one endemic organisation and one non-endemic non-organisation.
And thus an official announcement was made by Blizzard, confirming the two new slots. The city of London will be the home ground for Cloud9. The org has invested in various games and has a strong history with Overwatch- their lineup after the launch of the game was one of the dominant forces in North America, just behind EnVyUs. While the roster has severely changed one year since, there are still committed to Overwatch. Cloud9 is traditionally based in Los Angeles, but being an esport organisation, has no problems with planting a new base internationally.
The other spot is a second Los Angeles team. This new team s owned by Stan Kroenke and Josh Kroenke. The two are known sports investors, owning NFL’s L.A. Rams, NBA’s Denver Nuggets, NHL’s Colorado Avalanche and also the football club Arsenal FC. This new team will be handled by the Kroenke family’s new esports division- KSE Esports.
With more teams joining and the recruitment process still undergoing, the Overwatch League is set to start later this year.