An report from global financial giant Morgan Stanley has suggested that Blizzard’s Overwatch League could bring in anywhere from $20m – $720m (£16m-£578m) a year.
As reported by Dot Esports, the Morgan Stanley research suggests that should the market be confident, revenue could reach the top end of $720m. Should there be little to no confidence it will be around the $20million mark.
The top-right quadrant is where the report suggests Blizzard will be able to maximise its returns. It relies on large audiences, both live and digital and a strong licensing and advert model which will undoubtedly bring the bulk of the forecasted revenue.
It suggests that they will have to build their platform into the supposed “ESPN” of esports, with viewership soaring way above current figures. It also suggests that a huge 27% of revenue will come from ticket sales for live events and merchandise which considering the substantial overall revenue banded about is fairly ambitious. It’s not completely out of the question, however, with esports fans known for spending a fair amount of money on merchandise at live events.
So far there’s still very little to report on the Overwatch League. Although it’s set to get underway in July, the world still eagerly awaits news on how the proposed regional approach is set to work. The only news that we’ve heard so far is that a spot in the league may cost a lot of money. There’s reports that Blizzard are looking for up to $15,000,000 (£12m) for a Los Angeles franchise.
Blizzard are clearly an incredibly strong company commercially as shown by the outright success of titles such as Hearthstone, Overwatch and their huge, seemingly evergreen MMORPG World of Warcraft. What remains to be seen is if they can successfully sculpt Overwatch into the huge esports title that many predicted. Their handling of the competitive scene so far has come under fire, with criticism around the game’s meta and competitive format and spectator mode rife.
Esports Insider says: The predictions are huge and if the $720m is reached that is some serious money. The report adds that it would put it at the levels of WWE and larger than Major League Soccer. As with all things Overwatch League, we will play the waiting game and see how it manifests itself when we finally get some more information.
