New Toronto Overwatch esports franchise to be named the Toronto Defiant

“We really felt like it spoke to the city,” he said of the name.

The 2019 season starts Feb. 4, with Toronto in the Atlantic Division.

Vancouver is also joining the league, with Canucks Sports & Entertainment chairman Francesco Aquilini at the helm. It has yet to announce its name.

The Vancouver franchise is partnering with Luminosity Gaming, a successful Canadian esports organization.

The inaugural 2018 Overwatch season featured 12 teams: Boston Uprising, Florida Mayhem, Houston Outlaws, London Spitfire, New York Excelsior and Philadelphia Fusion in the Atlantic Division and Dallas Fuel, Los Angeles Gladiators, Los Angeles Valiant, San Francisco Shock, Seoul Dynasty and Shanghai Dragons in the Pacific Division.

Other expansion franchises for 2019 are Atlanta, Washington, D.C., Paris, and Chengdu, Guangzhou and Hangzhou, China.

The Toronto franchise has already started filling its front office while attracting $21.5 million in equity financing.

Jaesun (Jae) Won has been named general manager. Beoumjun (Bishop) Lee, formerly of the London Spitfire, has been appointed head coach with help from assistant coach Yun (Bubbly) Ho Cho, strategic coach Dongwook (Don) Kim and analyst Dennis (Barroi) Matz.

The Toronto franchise’s designated marketing area stretches from Kingston to London, Ont., and the Niagara region as well as Buffalo, Syracuse and Rochester south of the border.

“Overwatch,” a team-based first-person shooter, has spawned a blue-chip esports league backed by big names and big money.

The Toronto equity financing was led by original investors including tech entrepreneur Sheldon Pollack, venture capitalist Adam Adamou and Michael Kimel, part-owner of the Pittsburgh Penguins and co-founder of the Chase Hospitality Group.

The original cost of an Overwatch franchise was pegged at US$20 million in its first year of operation in 2018 with reports suggesting the next round would go for a minimum of US$35 million.

The London Spitfire won the inaugural league championship — and US$1 million — in July, defeating Philadelphia 3-0 at a soldout Barclays Center in Brooklyn, N.Y. Philadelphia collected US$400,000 as runner-up.

The league is the brainchild of Overwatch developer Blizzard Entertainment, whose gaming portfolio also includes “World of Warcraft” and “StarCraft.” Overwatch has more than 30 million players.

The league plans to continue staging its games at Blizzard’s esports arena in Burbank, Calif., in 2019 with plans to stage games in the franchise cities in 2020.

OverActive Media Group used to be The Ledger Group, rebranding in April to “to reflect its focus on the ownership of esports platforms.”

The company has already invested in Rochester-based Splyce Inc., a professional esports team involved in “League of Legends,” “Call of Duty” and “Halo” leagues. It also has interests in Askott Entertainment Inc., a leading esports gaming company, and Enthusiast Gaming Inc., an esports media company.

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Neil Davidson, The Canadian Press

by Canadian Press

New Toronto Overwatch esports franchise to be named the Toronto Defiant

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