eSports News by Content Engine AI

As the Overwatch League Finals end in Los Angeles, you’ll find no stores packed with brand new merchandise, but you’ll have to wait until the season’s next start date to buy Overwatch socks, socks with skins of heroes and skins of the venues, Overwatch boots and shoes, and much more. A large percentage of the merch will end up in France, Turkey, Russia, and the Middle East but some of it is bound to get sold in western Europe as well.

There are a ton of new items coming to fans from what has been called the Overwatch League’s “most expanded supply to date.” If it weren’t for the knee-jerk reaction of people saying “well they had to have more because the championship was on Tuesday,” we would have none of this — which is why we want to make sure all of the right people know about it. When the League’s next season starts up, the World Cup championship-winning jerseys will be available and even some of the latter league’s skins will be available. For your reference, the number of skins is about 1,000 — not even close to the about 4,000 that are rumored to be included in the upcoming second season.

Photo courtesy of Nike.

The league’s biggest corporate sponsors are on board for this expansion to France and other European countries as well. Some of the big ones that are making some big demands from the League are kit manufacturer Nike and video game publisher Activision. According to Business Insider, Nike has signed up for the first four seasons of the league in France, which have a total value of up to $15 million, and wants 50% of all deal revenue from the first season. More importantly, Nike wants access to the league’s intellectual property to create its own line of gear. In a 2015 interview, the creator of Call of Duty, Ted Price, said that he wanted to buy the game and then form a company that was called Call of Duty, and Nike is now doing the same thing with this esports league.

Photo courtesy of Adidas.

The big companies also have tremendous expectations for online streaming. Adidas has already made two points on its most recent second quarter earnings call, stating it wants a $1 billion esports business by the end of 2021. To put it another way, Adidas wants this in five years. That would represent a 72% increase over what it had made through its newest sponsorship deal with the League. The question is whether or not it will happen, but without seeing the league’s global distribution plan in place, it’s hard to take a bite. There will be more details to come as details break about the League’s growth. For those of you who don’t have a front row seat, you’ll be able to stream the finals, Overwatch League Championship Season finale, and some post-game interviews and footage from Overwatch League Season Finale: LA as they air on the Overwatch League Twitch channel this weekend (you can find that channel here).

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