The Overwatch League Hopes to Expand to Around 28 Teams

The Overwatch League already has a strong showing on the esports scene with over 10 teams participating and some high-production matches, but the League is looking to expand in the future to include even more teams.

Speaking to Inven Global, Overwatch League commissioner Nate Nanzer expressed his and the League’s desire to have approximately 28 teams in total, more than double the 12 teams that the League currently has across different regions. When asked about his thoughts on the League’s progress towards being more like traditional sports, Nanzer shared his thoughts on the goal so far before mentioning that they hope to expand the number of teams.

“I think we’re off to a good start,” Nanzer told Inven Global. To actually realize our vision and goals, we are going to need more teams around the world. We will be starting conversations about season 2 expansion teams and we’re really focused on additional teams in Asia and Europe. Eventually our goal is to have around 28 teams around the world.”

At the moment, the 12 teams that exist in the Overwatch League are largely house in the United States, though three of them are international teams. Some of these teams are newer independent organizations while others such as the London Spitfire are owned by well-known esports organizations such as Cloud9.

One way that the Overwatch League will hopefully reach this goal of having 28 teams in the future is through the use of the Contenders program where aspiring pro players can get noticed by professional teams and eventually make their way into the League. Nanzer discussed the potential of the Contenders program while adding that it giving players a league to play in is just as important as allowing others to move up into the Overwatch League.

“The ultimate goal for OWL would be to become one of the premier sports leagues in the world,” Nanzer continued. “Not only having great competitions and great players, but also being commercially successful like traditional sports leagues, having significant revenue and sponsorships. As for Contenders, the goal is to have thriving local leagues. Even if we have the maximum number of teams in OWL, only a finite number of players can play there. So we need robust thriving local leagues for the many players who want to compete. The best will rise up and go to OWL, but there will also be players that can stay in the Contenders.”

The full interview with Nanzer can be read over at Inven Global.

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