In arguably the most fantastical of Overwatch League names yet, today it was revealed that the name the Big Apple franchise has picked for itself is New York Excelsior.
The New York Excelsior arise. ⬆️ Follow them at @NYXL.
First look: https://t.co/sSYLNqXyuZ pic.twitter.com/upixeXsBKI
— Overwatch Esports (@OW_Esports) October 30, 2017
Excelsior means ‘Ever Upward’ or ‘Still Higher’ for the few of you who aren’t fluent in Latin. With more Overwatch League name announcements than days in the week going out right now it’s been hard to keep up and so we’ve laid them all out here:
- New York Excelsior
- Dallas Fuel
- Shanghai Dragons
- Boston Uprising
- Los Angeles Valiant
- San Francisco Shock
- Seoul Dynasty
Yet to be revealed are the organisations from London, Miami, Houston, Philadelphia and the second from Los Angeles.
The New York franchise is owned by Sterling V.C. and they’ve gone with NYXL for short should New York Excelsior be too much of a mouthful. A press release from the org read as follows: “‘Excelsior’ represents the extreme scale and boundless ambition of the city, and the passionate drive of a team committed to reaching the top and never letting up. Excelsior represents the heroic optimism and positivity of Overwatch, a game that empowers everyone to become a hero.”
Sterling VC Co-Founder Jeff Wilpon commented: “It is an amazing opportunity to have NYXL be part of a brand new professional league and representing the city of New York. We’ve put together a strong team and look forward to competing at the highest level.”
The team will play in blue and red. This latest team name and branding announcement follows on from a statement by Jeff Kaplan about planned changes to the game to bolster its competitive scene ahead of the OWL, such as a revamped spectator mode. It was also reported that teams in the league will have both home and away kits, as has been speculated. You can read more about this, and watch the announcement video in full, here.
Esports Insider says: Another day, another ‘out there’ Overwatch League name announcement. We kind of like New York Excelsior but once again for us, this news is merely pressure building ahead of the London announcement.
