After the Overwatch League decided to expand from 12 to 20 teams after its inaugural season, the league announced that it will step outside of the Blizzard Arena as its main venue and let teams host weekends in within the cities they represent in 2020.
This season the league decided to explore the possibility of home games with homestands scheduled in Dallas, Atlanta and Los Angeles.
The first two homestands were considered a success and set the groundwork for every team in the league to follow next season.
“Using the success from this year’s homestand, we’re able to fully roll it out to every team and city,” said Los Angeles Gladiators general manager Rob Moore. “It has been validated by the fan response and crowd attendance.”
The season three schedule has not been announced and a host venue for the Gladiators in 2020 was not officially announced but all teams are expected to host at least two homestands in 2020.
“People really engage with esports matches the same way they do with traditional sports,” Moore said. “They want to buy merchandise, get autographs and see there favorite players in person.”
The league also announced four new divisions. The Pacific Conference will be split into the Western and Eastern division and the Atlantic Conference will split into the Northern and Southern division.
The San Francisco Shock, Dallas Fuel and the Vancouver Titans will join the two L.A. teams in the West division.
The Gladiators will host games in the new Los Angeles Stadium, being built in Inglewood on the land bought by Gladiators and L.A. Rams owner Stan Kroenke, in 2021.
Gui-un “Decay” Jang, Lane “Surefour” Roberts and the rest of the Gladiators did not compete in either homestand but will compete against the Los Angeles Valiant, who host the final homestand of the season inside The Novo at L.A. Live, in the latest installment of the “Battle for L.A.” rivalry.
Eight other teams will join the Los Angeles teams for regular season finale August 24-25. There will be four matches a day, autograph signing sessions, and fan activations.
According to ESPN, the Valiant are expected to host its 2020 homestands at the Microsoft Theater, both are owned by AEG.
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