Report: Overwatch League to Have Teams in Atlanta, Paris and Guangzhou

By Nicholas Barth ·

A ESPN report has stated that Activision Blizzard have sold three Overwatch League Season 2 spots that will have teams calling the cities of Atlanta, Paris and Guangzhou home.

Report: Overwatch League to Have Teams in Atlanta, Paris and Guangzhou

According to reports by Jacob Wolf of ESPN, Activision Blizzard has finalized three deals that will see three new Season 2 teams joining the Overwatch League who will represent the cities of Atlanta, Georgia, Paris, France and Guangzhou, China. 

The Paris spot has been reportedly sold to McCourt Global, which is a Los Angeles-based holding company that also owns the French soccer team of Olympique de Marseille. If the deal is finalized, Paris will be the second European city to be represented by an Overwatch League team with the Cloud9 owned London Spitfire being the first. 

Nenking Group will be reportedly the owners of the Guanzghou team and is the umbrella company of Chinese Billionaire Zhong Naixiong. The organization is also the ownership group of the Chinese Basketball Association team Guangzhou Long-Lions. Guanzhou will be the second Chinese city to have a team competing in the Overwatch League with the Shanghai Dragons being the first. However, Guangzhou will likely be looking to have much more success that the Shanghia Dragons did during their 0-40 season. 

The Overwatch League has seen an unprecedented amount of success in its first season, which has enticed very wealthy investors to stake their claim for future seasons of the league. (Source: Overwatch League)
The Overwatch League has seen an unprecedented amount of success in its first season, which has enticed very wealthy investors to stake their claim for future seasons of the league. (Source: Overwatch League)

Finally, Jacob Wolf reported that a group funded by the Georgia-based conglomerate Cox Enterprises was sold the Season 2 expansion spot for Atlanta. Cox Enterprises will be the second major corporate conglomerate to purchase and own an Overwatch League team with Comcast and its sport and venue subsidiary Specator being the owners of the Philadelphia Fusion, according to ESPN. The Fusion are currently competing against the London Spitfire in the Grand Finals of the inaugural season for the Overwatch League.  

It was reported back in March that Nate Nanzer had revealed that the Overwatch League had a goal of expanding to 28 teams around the world. The reported additions of Atlanta, Paris and Guangzhou would put the current number of teams in the Overwatch League at 15. 

(cover photo courtesy of Blizzard Entertainment)