Blizzard Entertainment's Overwatch League, the first franchised esports league, kicked off its inaugural season earlier this year. Twelve teams from around the world compete every week in Burbank, California, at an arena that housed the stages for The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson and Jay Leno.

Blizzard is entering a well-established market. Revenue in esports will pass $900 million this year, according to Newzoo.

Companies like Riot and Valve, who make some of the most popular competitive games, have been holding competitions for several years with prize pools snowballing in the millions. Viewership of esports events hit an all-time high of 46 million in 2017 and investors have taken notice.

The owner of the NFL's New England Patriots, Robert Kraft, owns an Overwatch League team. Shaquille O'Neal, Marshawn Lynch and Jennifer Lopez are also investors.

The stakes are high for the players and these pro gamers, some of them just 18-years-old, are under constant pressure.

"There's a lot of mental stress that goes on, and if you don't have a clear head and you're not 100 percent focused, that's going to affect how the coaches see you, how your own teammates see you," said Andrej "Babybay" Francisty, a player on the San Francisco Shock team.



The team's training regimen rival that of any other pro athlete, and they are often training twelve hours a day.



"We get one day off. That's it. And usually on our day off most players are still playing the game," said Nikola "Sleepy" Andrews.