Cloud9 secure London slot in Overwatch League

10 August 2017

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Overwatch fans in London now know for sure that they’ll have a team to cheer for in the forthcoming Overwatch League. It was announced today that the English capital has a slot and it’ll be filled by none other than Cloud9

Jack Etienne, Cloud9

It was also revealed that Los Angeles has a second spot in the league which means we now have nine confirmed teams in total. The other six are Boston, Orlando, Shanghai, Seoul, New York and San Francisco. 

Jack Etienne, Founder and CEO of Cloud9, commented: “We are thrilled that Cloud9’s formidable fan base throughout Europe and the UK now has a local team to call their own.”

The second LA spot has gone to Stan Kroenke and his son Josh Kroenke. Stan is best known in the UK as the owner of Arsenal FC, but the Kroenkes also have investments in the Denver Nuggets, the LA Rams and others. 

The statement from Blizzard on the Kroenke’s involvement read as follows: “Known as international leaders in the sports industry, Stan and Josh Kroenke own professional teams, stadiums, and media holdings around the world. We’re very happy to be able to rely on their deep expertise in sports as work on the Overwatch League continues at full speed.”

Josh Kroenke himself noted: “We’re going to build a great team for Los Angeles that inspires fans near and far.”

Both these teams will now be looking to ensure their lineups are as good as can be ahead of the inaugural campaign for what’s planned to be the largest Overwatch competition ever, and one of the grandest in esports history. No financial terms were mentioned in the announcement of the London and second LA slots and we hope to have more on that later. The inclusion of London however does mean that we have at least one of our seven European OWL cities correct, read what we were thinking back in April on this matter here

We’re also currently one for five on our early doors US cities predictions.

The transfer window is open now and will close for all Overwatch League teams on October 30th 2017. 

Esports Insider says: This is huge news for the Overwatch League with one well established and respected esports org coming on board, and a family with a history of sporting club investments in the Kroenkes. We’re delighted that London’s involvement has been confirmed and we’ve reserved a soft spot in our ESI hearts for Cloud9 now they’re representing our home city.