Toronto to reportedly house the newest Overwatch League team

Toronto will be the next expansion team city to be added to the Overwatch League come its second season, according to a report by Over.gg.

The publication sources unnamed parties close to the league, claiming esports organisation Splyce will manage the team. It’s unclear whether or not Splyce actually bought the Toronto spot or if the organisation is simply being brought to solely manage the franchise from an administrative standpoint. Expansion buy-ins allegedly cost upwards of $60m (£45.8m) for the second season. Splyce has had teams in Overwatch in the past but left once the league was announced. The organisation is also based in Rochester, New York near the Canadian border, around 170 miles from Toronto itself. 

Toronto fits in fairly well when it comes to standards of other OWL cities as the largest city in Canada and a big presence in traditional sports with a team in every American league except the NFL, supplementing it with the CFL. Toronto has also played host to esports tournaments throughout the year such as Northern Arena at the Ontario Science Centre. 

Ontario Space Centre

The Overwatch League currently has nine teams based in the United States, two in Asia and one in Europe and it has been stated in the past that Blizzard will be adding six expansion teams coming into the second season. Atlanta, Georgia and Guangzhou, China have already been confirmed as two new expansion cities while Paris, France has been rumoured, but not confirmed from Activision Blizzard.

Expansion teams have until September 9th to sign free agents and if reports hold true, at least two more teams will be announced in the coming months. 

Esports Insider says: If rumours hold and Toronto, in fact, will be the next home of an Overwatch League it will be the 11th team based in North America. Blizzard has said it’s actively trying to expand outside of North America but to the outside world, and many European fans, it frankly doesn’t seem like it. Regardless, we will be keeping our eyes on more information surrounding the first Canadian Overwatch League team.