Walt Hickey/Business Insider
Fans at the 2019 Overwatch League Grand Finals.
- The third season of Activision Blizzard's Overwatch League will begin on February 8 with matches in New York City and Dallas.
- This year the esports league will travel to the home cities of all 20 teams, with stops in North America, Europe, South Korea, and China.
- Activision Blizzard recently signed a deal with Google to bring the Overwatch League broadcasts exclusively to YouTube.
- With Overwatch League players preparing to travel more than some NBA teams this year, player health is a major concern for fans following the league. However, team owners bought into the league with the expectation that it would eventually adopt a traveling schedule.
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Activision Blizzard's Overwatch League will kick-off its third season on February 8 with a pair of events in New York City and Dallas.
All 20 Overwatch League teams will host matches in their home cities this year, a major transition that comes after the professional gaming league spent its first two seasons playing nearly every match in Activision Blizzard's Burbank, California, studio.
The new traveling schedule will test whether the Overwatch League can generate excitement, and more important, attendance, in different regions around the world. City-based teams were a major selling point for the league and team owners reportedly invested more than $20 million each to create esports franchises in North America, Europe, South Korea, and China. Team owners want their home stands to generate the same sort of passion and local loyalty seen in traditional sports.
