Mentioned in this article Games: Overwatch

This is the second in a two-part series on the origins of the Atlanta Overwatch League franchise. Read the first part here.

Atlanta Esports Ventures President Paul Hamilton and Cox Enterprises CFO Dallas Clement knew they had a bid that was attractive to Activision Blizzard early on in their quest for an Overwatch League (OWL) expansion franchise.

With Atlanta as their home, Hamilton was well aware that he and his team had what Blizzard was looking for.

“We felt strong. We knew we had the right city,” Hamilton said.

One of Blizzard’s primary criteria for accepting bids was having a city with a vibrant Overwatch player base, according to Hamilton. He said the developer tracks where people are playing the game and knows which regions boast a lot of casual players.

[perfectpullquote align=”right” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””]“We felt strong. We knew we had the right city.”[/perfectpullquote]

“In Atlanta there are a lot of people playing Overwatch,” He said. “So instantly, when I reached out to [Blizzard], they were very interested in us.”

“What we focused on were the demographics of Atlanta. It’s a dream city. It’s the second fastest-growing city, the second-most wired city … it’s exploding and the demographics are great.”

With Blizzard’s emphasis on having a geolocated league, Hamilton made sure that his group pitched the city of Atlanta just as much as it pitched itself as ownership.

But Clement knew that if anyone could bring OWL to Atlanta, it was Cox.

“We understand Atlanta,” Clement said. “We understand this region. So we think we can do some unique things to activate.”

Being a mass media conglomerate, Cox is uniquely positioned to leverage its numerous outlets to maximize the Atlanta OWL team’s regional reach. So negotiating with Blizzard was “pretty straightforward” for Clement. He added that the process was comparable to the bid negotiating procedures for traditional sports.

Credit: Robert Paul/Blizzard Entertainment

Getting Value

Valuation for OWL teams have been highly reported on, but the exact numbers for prices of expansion teams have been largely hidden, only revealed by unnamed sources.

When the bidding process began for the 2019 season of the Overwatch League, ESPN’s Jacob Wolf reported citing sources that an expansion spot would cost $35-60M. The reported fee for the teams that played in the league’s inaugural season was $20M.

Though Hamilton and Clement did not disclose how much they paid for their spot, they were able to detail how they came about the number they ultimately negotiated with Blizzard.

[perfectpullquote align=”left” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””]Clement is investing in the belief in both Hamilton’s ability to lead a franchise and Blizzard’s to operate a league successfully.[/perfectpullquote]

Being a conglomerate, Cox regularly makes investments and approaches them through a portfolio perspective.

“We make some investments that are very large. Therefore, we want to have much more diligence on the model and much more clarity on the prospects of that business,” he said.

“At the same time, we’ll make investments in businesses that are much smaller but have optionality in terms of the future for growth prospects. We aren’t as rigorous about what those are as we are about having good conversation about what they are.”

With OWL being in just its second season, Clement knows that he is investing in the belief in both Hamilton’s ability to lead a franchise and Blizzard’s to operate a league successfully moving forward.

“It’s early days and it’d be naive of us to expect that there are absolute numbers expectations in year two, year three, let alone year one,” He said. “If we bring something to Atlanta and we’re successful with it and Paul’s successful with it, we get better understandings on the model, esports continue to grow.”

“Any of those are possible.”

Hamilton said that there was some data Blizzard was able to provide them based on OWL’s first season. But to a large degree, his firm, Province, and Cox’s large investment analytics departments were responsible for helping them determine the right price to negotiate.

Credit: Bryan Bedder/Blizzard Entertainment

The Bigger the Better

Now that Hamilton has landed an OWL team, he knows he can’t slow down. The real work has just begun.

“It’s sort of like the dog chasing the car — but you caught it. Now what do you?” Hamilton said. “I immediately have this flood of ideas like, ‘Now I’ve got to do something with it.’”’

Hamilton said that he is working around the clock to prepare the franchise for its first season, and it all begins with finding a team name. From there the team is looking to quickly establish its branding, as well as hire a GM, coaches, and players

“There’s no shortage of things to get done,” he said. “But the team we’re getting together, the group to support it, is going just as well as the process did to get the team.”

While Hamilton is neck deep in OWL-related preparation now, he isn’t ignorant to the greater potential of what Atlanta Esports Ventures can become.

[perfectpullquote align=”right” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””]“There’s no shortage of things to get done.”[/perfectpullquote]

Nearly every OWL ownership group from the league’s first season also has its hands in other esports ventures. Though Atlanta Esports Ventures is still in its youth, Hamilton was clear about his expectations for its future.

“Our long term goal is to certainly participate in other esports and also in the esports ecosystem, not just at the team level,” he said. “We have bigger and broader thoughts on it, but right now we’re solely focused on this team and growing from there.”

Hamilton said his goal is to make his OWL franchise the cornerstone of his partnership with Cox and use the knowledge and understanding he gains from OWL to help him develop something larger.

“The key for us is that we want to do it right, whatever that is,” he said. “We don’t want to jump in and do it half way. We want to strive for perfection, which is impossible to achieve. But that’s our goal, to do this at the highest level.”