Overwatch League, Coming to a Stadium Near You
What the first home game experience means for the future of the league and the competitive scene.
Filling Stadiums and Taking names
If we learned one thing from the Dallas Homestand, it’s that Overwatch League is big and it’s here to stay.
They’ve been able to fill stadiums before, in New York for the Grand Finals, but never before for regular stage matches. While the excitement around the first non LA home games and the Houston vs Dallas rivalry definitely helped to boost sales, the weekend showed us more than anything that there are fans dedicated enough to buy tickets and travel to see Overwatch played live outside of the California esports bubble, and that can only be good thing for the long term future of Overwatch League.
A slight hiccup
You couldn’t have planned a better timed mishap. The first home game, the first match, the first map of the first match…….Boom! Blackout.
Of course there’s no way to predict that a power cut affecting a few blocks would happen to coincide with the start of a gaming tournament watched by thousands in the stadium and tens of thousands more via live stream.
That being said, I’m certain there were a few of the higher ups in the Overwatch League management wringing their hands and softly muttering “why did we ever leave Los Angeles!”.
All was resolved in reasonable time though, without affecting too much more than a few European viewers bedtimes (myself included). While a little bit more information up front from the organizers would have been good, I commend them for keeping things together and putting on the full set of matches despite the technical challenges.
The Power of the People
We also saw this weekend how the energy of the crowd can have a real impact on the performance of the teams, both positively and negatively. It’s no coincidence that the home team Dallas Fuel dominated in both their matches this weekend, winning twice and only losing one map.
Often it is not skill which is the deciding factor in who wins and who loses. These are all the best Overwatch players in the world, all capable of performing at the highest levels. The real difference maker is how the players react to their situation.
As OWL transitions into home and away matches in the 2020 season, the different environments, friendly home crowds and hostile away crowds will definitely have an impact on the fortunes of the teams. Some are going to be fired up by the enthusiasm of their supporters, while others will let the boos from their opponents fans get to them.
I’d keep a particular eye on the teams with particularly large and energised fan bases, Atlanta Houston and Shanghai all spring to mind, to benefit from the home field advantage a lot.
