In a move that further cements the media company’s love for eSports, and the dollars it now attracts from advertisers, Beasley Media Group has acquired an eSports team that competes in the Overwatch League.
Thirteen months after taking a big leap into eSports, Beasley has purchased the league’s Houston Outlaws esports team from the Immortals Gaming Club for an undisclosed price.
What is the Overwatch League?
It professes to be the first major global professional esports league with city-based teams across Asia, Europe, and North America.
Overwatch was created by globally acclaimed publisher Blizzard Entertainment (a division of Activision Blizzard), and was built from the ground up for online competition, with “memorable characters and fast-paced action designed for the most engaging gameplay and spectator experiences.”
The Overwatch League is scheduled to begin its third season in February 2020, with each of the league’s teams hosting matches in their home markets.
The Outlaws will remain officially based in Houston, and will continue to represent the Houston, Austin, and San Antonio markets.
Beasley’s acquisition of the Outlaws expands its role in the fast-growing esports space and reflects its focus on “premium esports programming” and content.
The Outlaws purchase follows an April 2019 investment in Team Renegades, a Detroit-based esports organization consisting of five teams, and CheckpointXP, a weekly syndicated esports lifestyle show acquired one year ago by Beasley.
CheckpointXP programming is currently featured on approximately 70 radio stations across the United States on the Sun Broadcast Network; on daily podcasts on Amazon’s video game streaming platform, Twitch; and, on CheckpointXP On Campus, the first collegiate-based esports show in the U.S.
“The Houston Outlaws represent a rare investment opportunity, as there are only 20 Overwatch League teams in the world, and the transaction partners Beasley with Blizzard Entertainment and its parent company, Activision Blizzard, a leading global developer and publisher of interactive entertainment content and services,” said Caroline Beasley, CEO of Beasley Media.
She added that the purchase represents “another meaningful step forward as we expand Beasley’s involvement in esports, one of the fastest growing forms of entertainment in the U.S. and the world. We believe this approach will enable us to deliver great local, national, and global content, while creating an even stronger marketing platform for advertisers and enhancing shareholder value.”
News of the deal did not immediately impact Beasley’s share value, which sits just below $3 per share.
