The Guangzhou franchise in the Overwatch League – in which the name hasn’t been officially announced as of yet – has appointed its executive leadership team.
Sonny Xiao has been named as Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the franchise, whereas Eddy Meng will serve as Chief Operating Officer (COO). Not only that, Ethan Liu – formerly of Machi Esports – will board the franchise as its General Manager.
Xiao is the President of Basketball Operations for the Guangzhou Long Lions, a team which is owned by the Nenking Group – the same conglomerate behind the upcoming Overwatch League franchise, in which he acts as Vice President. He became a co-owner of the Texas Legends franchise in 2010, too.
Meng, on the other hand, has worked for Activision Blizzard since he initially joined in 2006. Most recently, his position at the Overwatch developer was the Managing Director of Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Southeast Asia. His previous roles there were Director of Operations for Southeast Asia and Regional Director of Legal Affairs.
Guangzhou is one of eight new franchises that purchased expansion slots in Activision Blizzard’s Overwatch League. It isn’t the only Chinese franchise that will join the Shanghai Dragons in the league: Chengdu and Hangzhou will also compete in the competition moving forward.
There will be some significant changes in the Overwatch League moving forward. The second season will kick off on February 14th, with each team playing in 28 games instead of 40. These matches will take place over four five-week stages.
Esports Insider says: It’s good to see a mix of personnel joining the Guangzhou franchise, both from traditional sports and franchising to actually working for Activision Blizzard.