Overwatch League Captures More Than 10 Million Viewers in Week One

As the Overwatch League heads into week two, the nascent esports league reports that its first week drew more than ten million viewers. Twitch reported that opening day drew an average audience per minute of 408,000, and 280,000 for the week as over 10 million viewers tuned in over the four-day period on either Twitch, MLG, or Chinese streaming partners ZhanQi TV, NetEase CC, and Panda TV.

“We’re thrilled by the overwhelming response to the Overwatch League’s opening week of play,” said Pete Vlastelica, CEO of Major League Gaming. “But this is only the beginning. With more than 35 million Overwatch players, the Overwatch League has the potential to become one of the most-watched leagues - of any kind - in the world.”

“We had high expectations for the inaugural broadcast of the Overwatch League on Twitch, given our platform’s passionate fan base for Overwatch," said Kevin Lin, COO of Twitch. "They really put on an amazing show and fans showed up en masse to support and celebrate Overwatch. Based on the response from the community, Overwatch League is off to a great start and we look forward to watching how the season progresses. This league demonstrates the power and potential of esports, and we’re thrilled to continue expanding our partnership with Blizzard.”

PageBreaks Take: Not surprisingly, the team from South Korea, Seoul Dynasty, is one of four teams (LA Valiant, London Spitfire, and New York Excelsior) to start the season 2-0. After week one, London leads in point differential at +13.

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