<P> Blizzard sought out potential team owners, aiming to include teams that were localized to a geographic area . Blizzard believed having such local teams would spark more interest in eSports from spectators and potential sponsors through new activities around supporting their team . A first meeting for prospective team owners was held at Blizzcon 2016 after League's announcement, with New England Patriots' owner Robert Kraft, and Los Angeles Rams owner Stan Kroenke among the attendees . During the formulative period, Blizzard hired Steve Bornstein, former president of ABC Sports and CEO of NFL Network, to serve as the company's eSports chair, with particular emphasis on the broadcast and presentation of games played in the Overwatch League . </P> <P> Blizzard anticipated the Overwatch League will have a seven - figure payoff for the winning team at the end of a season . The first, shortened season of the League was expected to start in Q3 2017, with full seasons starting in 2018, with the League having half - year long seasonal breaks starting in Q4 of that year . Prior to starting the League, Blizzard planned to run a "combine," where players are invited to try out for guaranteed team contracts . </P> <P> Little information about the League came out of Blizzard following the initial November 2016 announcement, leading to some speculation that the League was having trouble . However, during this time, Blizzard was working behind - the - scenes to engage potential team owners, wanting to hold back as to provide large comprehensive announcements rather than trickles of information . In May 2017, ESPN reported that the League had been having difficulties in signing franchises, which ESPN ascribed to two issues . The first was the high base cost of starting a franchise, starting at $20 million with higher costs in more urban markets like New York City and Los Angeles, and much higher than other eSports league buy - ins . Second, there would be no revenue sharing until 2021, making recovery of the franchise costs difficult . These difficulties lead to a delay for the start of the first season . According to ESPN, once the Kraft Group agreed to support a Boston - based team (later named the Boston Uprising), this had a snowball effect towards establishing of six other teams . </P> <P> The first seven teams were revealed in July 2017, and additional teams announced in the months following . With its first twelve teams set by mid-December, Blizzard announced that its first season will run from January to June 2018, with a pre-season in December 2017 and a championship tournament in July 2018 . A possible thirteenth team, backed by Wes Edens, had been in discussions but missed the deadline for Season 1 . </P>

How much does an overwatch league team cost