Two more teams have been added to the much-anticipated and highly-scrutinized Overwatch League. The Kroenke family, who own a host of sports teams including the Los Angeles Rams and Denver Nuggets, have snapped up a second LA franchise. Cloud9, one of the most popular eSports teams in the world, has helped the OWL expand into Europe by purchasing a slot in London. These new teams will join the existing LA franchise, as well as teams in Boston, New York, Miami-Orlando, San Francisco, Shanghai, and Seoul, as the first to participate in the league. Los Angeles has become one of the most exciting eSports cities in the world, with the recent arrival of the League Championship Series and a long history as one of the global epicenters of the Super Smash Bros. scene. When the first slate of Overwatch League teams was revealed a month ago, LA was naturally one of the initial participants―that franchise will belong to Noah Whinston, CEO of one of League of Legends' most notable teams, Immortals. This second team will be brought under the Kroenke Sports & Entertainment banner, and it's not much of a surprise that the family ended up buying into the OWL. Patriarch Stan Kroenke was spotted at Blizzcon 2016, alongside his fellow NFL team owner, Robert Kraft. Both ended up officially joining the league, with Kraft purchasing the franchise for Boston―a decent fit for the guy who owns the New England Patriots. Cloud9, which has teams in nearly all modern eSports, apparently had the London franchise in its sights since the league was announced. The C9 Overwatch crew already plays and has some impressive results under its belt already, including several top 5 major finishes that were only thwarted by the EU gods in EnVyUs. CEO Jack Etienne seems to believe that C9 has the necessary fanbase overseas, and if that is indeed the case, the franchise could be in for some major successes. There are a total of 28 spots open for franchises in the Overwatch League, and there have been rumblings over the past year that it's been tough sledding for Blizzard trying to fill all of the slots. A popular theory revolves around the rumored price of an OWL franchise: somewhere in the $20 million range. That number has yet to be confirmed, but for now, it seems like things are actually running quite smoothly. A third of the slots have been filled in some of the most major markets, and there are rumors that EnVyUs have acquired their spot in the Austin-Dallas area. Whether or not the league will be ready for play by the end of the year―as was promised―is still a shaky proposition. However, some of the most important hurdles have been cleared, and the Overwatch League is finally starting to taking shape.
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