This week we have seen two Overwatch League announcements. The first came from the Immortals who had the original L.A. spot announced back in July. The L.A. Valiant was announced as the team name under Blizzard’s branding agreement. The second just came out yesterday as the Boston Uprising with the team name and logo finally going public.
The L.A. Valiant has been a popular name and logo among fans. Keeping to the helmet theme, the Immortals have traded their traditional Spartan logo for a winged Valkyrie helm and adopted Mercy as their mascot. The endemic esports team has been one of the most vocal in terms of building a brand and establishing a local fan base. Noah Whinston the CEO of the Immortals has a fans first mentality. Out of the logos we have seen, the Valiant seems to be one of the best. The team is expect to announce their roster this week.
The next team revealed this week was the Boston Uprising. With Soldier 76 as their mascot, the logo looks like a classic baseball design akin to the New York Yankees. The name was also well received by the community as everyone expected something Patriotic and Uprising works well. The team is lead by Chris “HuK” Loranger formally of Starcraft 2 fame. He is managing the program and is expect to announce the roster today. The team is in the spotlight among investors because of the involvement by the Kraft Group who owns the New England Patriots. They have gotten the most attention on news outlets like CNBC as a premiere esports introduction to the world.
There have only been five of the teams officially announced with names and logos. It is expected that all 12 will be announced before BlizzCon next week. The RUMORED team names are as follows:
New York Excelsior – Team rumored to be built around APEX Korean team LW Blue. No official word on the team or logo.
Miami Mayhem – The Misfits are the owners of this team and are expect to keep their Contenders roster intact. No official word on the team or logo.
Houston Outlaws – OpTic esports owns this team and has yet to show a logo or roster.
Seoul Dynasty – Lunatic Hai was one of the top teams in Korea. They did not do as well in APEX, but are expected to be one of the best teams. No official word on the team or logo.
London Spitfires – Cloud9 caused controversy over taking the London spot. No official word on the team or logo.
There is only a few days left in the player signing window. Expect a lot of announcements before BlizzCon as teams finalize their rosters and logos. There is also expect to be branding in Overwatch as well as possible swag at BlizzCon. We just have to wait and see, the league continues to take fire from critics expecting a poor season one with all games being played in Los Angeles.
