One of the newest Overwatch League franchise, Vancouver, British Columbia, has announced a new partnership with Canadian-based esports organisation Luminosity Gaming and its Founder and CEO, Steve Maida.
Vancouver is one of eight franchises to join the league in its second season, and the second in Canada raising the total number of teams to 20. The team is owned by Canucks Sports and Entertainment and the Aquilini Investment Group which also owns the National Hockey League team the Vancouver Canucks and Rogers Arena, where Dota 2’s The International 8 was recently held.
The announcement states Luminosity will be working closely with the new team to “help craft and implement our strategy surrounding player acquisition, key staffing, day-to-day operations, marketing and more.”
Steve Maida, Founder and CEO, Luminosity Gaming, said in a statement: “I’m thrilled and humbled to be teaming up with the Vancouver Canucks and the Aquilini Family. I want to thank them for believing in me and giving me this opportunity. Their organisation, family & leadership are all first class. I am confident this will be a successful pairing and hope to make the organisation and all of the fans across Vancouver, the Pacific Northwest and Canada proud.”
With investments from non-endemic companies and new venture capitals, many Overwatch League teams, like Toronto and Atlanta, are partnering with experienced and seasoned esports organisations to have control of decision making and operations.
Esports Insider says: Vancouver is taking a route similar to other OWL franchises as a lot of the investment firms have little to no experience in esports. This is a great move to bring in seasoned organisations into something as large as the Overwatch League. Partnering with an organisation based in the same city, state, or country as the team also creates more of a “hometown” atmosphere, which Blizzard has been openly pushing since the start of the league.