D.C. is launching another professional sports team. Well, esports.
Investor Mark Ein has bought and launched a DMV team to join the Overwatch League, one of the biggest esports organizations in the world. Ein, who leads Washington Esports Ventures, picked up the rights from Activision Blizzard subsidiary and league owner Blizzard Entertainment.
It's not your traditional pro league, but Overwatch is not to be overlooked.
The cartoonish shooter game is played by 40 million people globally, nearly 1 million of which are in the D.C. area. In its inaugural season, the Overwatch League drew more than 10 million viewers in its first week and fans collectively spent 160 million hours watching players.
The league also secured some high-profile broadcasting contracts. It signed a two-year, $90 million deal with Amazon-owned streaming platform Twitch in January, another agreement with ESPN and Disney XD in July, and a multiyear deal with Twitter just last month.
The Overwatch League launched last year and has teams in Shanghai, Seoul, London, New York City and Los Angeles, among others, including eight that recently signed on in a major expansion. The D.C.-based team, yet to be named, will be the league's 20th member and start competing in its 2019 season. Ein's new company also plans to host activities in addition to the team's local games including gaming tournaments and fan events.
As an investor, Ein is the founder and CEO of Capitol Investment Corp. IV and Venturehouse Group. He also acquired Washington City Paper last year. But this isn't his first rodeo in sports entertainment – Ein founded and owns World Team Tennis' Washington Kastles franchise, a six-time league champion.
He is joined at Washington Esports Ventures by Baltimore native Dyson Dryden, as well as financial partner Artist Capital Management, a New York growth equity firm. Events DC is an anchor supporter.
"We believe the Overwatch League, with the backing of Activision Blizzard and its city-based, global model, is the most important platform within esports, and we are thrilled to bring it to our D.C. community," Ein said in a statement.
The team won't sell out local venues right away. Overwatch League regular season matches are all played in Burbank, Calif., but games will hit local markets in 2020. A fitting spot for the D.C. squad's home base would be the upcoming Entertainment and Sports Arena at St. Elizabeths, but it has not yet announced a venue.
On the competition side, being part of the team will have plenty of perks for those especially gifted gamers. The league's first champion, London Spitfire, took home $1 million, runners-up Philadelphia Fusion snagged $400,000, and every player earns a minimum $50,000 salary with health insurance and a 401(k).
