Overwatch League pros ‘have a seat at the table’ without a union because owners have their best interests at heart, says league boss
THE professional players in the Overwatch League don't need a union to get a seat at the table when decisions are made because their bosses have their best interests at heart, according to Activision-Blizzard's esports chief.
This comes despite concerns about player burnout, significant numbers of retirements and huge changes coming in next year that could increase strain.
Next year the league's teams will be playing matches all over the world, with London Sptifire expected to play regular season games in multiple UK cities, as well as Paris, New York, Boston and Toronto.
Other events, such as playoff games, All-Star festivities and of course the season championships could add another three cities to that list, with some players potentially ending up playing at home on as little as as ten per cent of the time.
Talking to The Sun about the future of the league at the recent Atlanta Reign homestand, Pete Vlastelica said he thought players had a seat at the table for the discussions that led to this structure.
Discussions about the future direction of the league happen primarily between Activision-Blizzard and the team owners who have shelled out millions for their franchises.
The players already have their interests represented at those discussions, without a union, because the owners put their case forward, according to Vlastelica.
"Teams obviously have a very strong interest in keeping their players happy and healthy and motivated," he said, saying that the owners regularly represent their players' interests.
The league itself also "has touch points with the players themselves", where individuals can put their own concerns forward Vlastelica said.
While a decision on collective bargaining or representation is "a matter for the players themselves", it's something Vlastelica says he'd be willing to consider.
"We will be supportive of and be ready to have those conversations when they come," he said.
The owners have all paid millions of dollars for the rights to control teams in 20 international markets, and are hoping that hosting events in 2020 will mean they start to see a return on their investment.
In the 2019 regular every one of the Overwatch League's 20 teams plays 28 matches, down from 40 last year, and that number is staying the same next year.
However, rather than playing almost all their games in Los Angeles' Blizzard Arena, they will be playing in their home cities as well as those of their divisional rivals.
The stress of all that additional travel will be offset by the new set-up allowing some players to spend much more time at home than before, Vlastelica said.
How will Overwatch League 2020 work
TEAMS are going to be 'based' in their home cities for the first time.
Rather than playing home and away games on a weekly basis, though, teams will take turns hosting 'homestand weekends' where fans will have around eight games to watch at one big event.
Each team will host between two and five of these events between February and August 2020.
Exactly where those events will be will be announced at a later date, but it is expected these will be spread around the areas near the team's home cities, across their home market.
London Spitfire, for instance, could host a weekend in Manchester of Birmingham, while the Houston Outlaws might host games in Austin, Texas, and Guangzhou Charge might organise a weekend event in Hong Kong.
The 20 teams are going to be split into four divisions across their two conferences, with most games played within those divisions:
- The Pacific Conference:
Eastern Division: Chengdu, Guangzhou, Hangzhou, Seoul, Shanghai
Western Division: Dallas, LA Gladiators, LA Valiant, San Francisco, Vancouver - Atlantic Conference:
Southern Division: Atlanta, Florida, Houston, Philadelphia, Washington D.C.
Northern Division: Boston, London, New York, Paris, Toronto
Individual teams will reveal their own schedules and venues at a later date.
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"Player health and wellness is extremely important to the league, and it was one of the reasons that we made the changes to the schedule coming out of last year into this year," he explained.
"If it continues to be an issue, we'll look no further changes."
Almost of those events are going to be hosted and organised by the league's themselves, who will find suitable local venues and take responsibility for making the best in-person experience for local fans possible.
There will be "a select number of events" that are optimised for broadcast rather than for local fans, but these will be in the minority, Vlastelica says.
Playoffs for each stage, as well as the All-Star Weekend and Championship finals will be organised by the League - as will all the broadcast content for those games as well as regular season ones.