-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/overwatch\/news\/overwatch-league-new-division-structure-home-games-2020\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Overwatch League reveals new division structure, home game plans for 2020 season\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Here's how home games, divisions, conferences, and structures will work in the league's next season.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/overwatch\/news\/overwatch-league-new-division-structure-home-games-2020\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Dot Esports\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/DOTesports\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2019-07-16T12:05:37+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2019-07-16T15:53:48+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/15173229\/121639_S3W5D1_TorontoDefiantVsAtlantaReign_Stewart-VollandBs.jpg?resize=768,512\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"768\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"512\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Liz Richardson\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@mizliz_\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@DotEsports\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Liz Richardson\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"NewsArticle\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/overwatch\/news\/overwatch-league-new-division-structure-home-games-2020#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/overwatch\/news\/overwatch-league-new-division-structure-home-games-2020\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Liz Richardson\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/#\/schema\/person\/f0fd9cbdae01c57038b8e59f514c74e1\"},\"headline\":\"Overwatch League reveals new division structure, home game plans for 2020 season\",\"datePublished\":\"2019-07-16T12:05:37+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2019-07-16T15:53:48+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/overwatch\/news\/overwatch-league-new-division-structure-home-games-2020\"},\"wordCount\":736,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/overwatch\/news\/overwatch-league-new-division-structure-home-games-2020#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/15173229\/121639_S3W5D1_TorontoDefiantVsAtlantaReign_Stewart-VollandBs.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Overwatch League\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Overwatch\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/overwatch\/news\/overwatch-league-new-division-structure-home-games-2020\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/overwatch\/news\/overwatch-league-new-division-structure-home-games-2020\",\"name\":\"Overwatch League reveals new division structure, home game plans for 2020 season\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/overwatch\/news\/overwatch-league-new-division-structure-home-games-2020#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/overwatch\/news\/overwatch-league-new-division-structure-home-games-2020#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/15173229\/121639_S3W5D1_TorontoDefiantVsAtlantaReign_Stewart-VollandBs.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2019-07-16T12:05:37+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2019-07-16T15:53:48+00:00\",\"description\":\"Here's how home games, divisions, conferences, and structures will work in the league's next season.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/overwatch\/news\/overwatch-league-new-division-structure-home-games-2020#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/overwatch\/news\/overwatch-league-new-division-structure-home-games-2020\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/overwatch\/news\/overwatch-league-new-division-structure-home-games-2020#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/15173229\/121639_S3W5D1_TorontoDefiantVsAtlantaReign_Stewart-VollandBs.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/15173229\/121639_S3W5D1_TorontoDefiantVsAtlantaReign_Stewart-VollandBs.jpg\",\"width\":1800,\"height\":1200,\"caption\":\"Photo by Stewart Volland via Blizzard Entertainment\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/overwatch\/news\/overwatch-league-new-division-structure-home-games-2020#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Overwatch League reveals new division structure, home game plans for 2020 season\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/\",\"name\":\"Dot Esports\",\"description\":\"\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Dot Esports\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/05103313\/logo-dot_esports-mark-black.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/05103313\/logo-dot_esports-mark-black.png\",\"width\":300,\"height\":300,\"caption\":\"Dot Esports\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/DOTesports\/\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/DotEsports\",\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/dotesports\/\",\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/channel\/UCckaIn-3KqLYfppkj4DeTAw\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/#\/schema\/person\/f0fd9cbdae01c57038b8e59f514c74e1\",\"name\":\"Liz Richardson\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/b80663d98f74e83ba358f2e1ac2b5c1b\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50ef58870899a842a5dbf176a742fd43?s=96&d=mm&r=g&resize=96%2C96\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50ef58870899a842a5dbf176a742fd43?s=96&d=mm&r=g&resize=96%2C96\",\"caption\":\"Liz Richardson\"},\"description\":\"Liz is a freelance writer and editor from Chicago. Her favorite thing is the Overwatch League; her second favorite thing is pretending iced coffee is a meal. She specializes in educational content, patch notes that (actually) make sense, and aggressively supporting Tier 2 Overwatch. When she's not writing, Liz is expressing hot takes on Twitter and making bad life choices at Target.\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/mizlizrichardson\/\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/mizliz_\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/author\/lizrichardson1\"}]}<\/script>\n","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Overwatch League reveals new division structure, home game plans for 2020 season","description":"Here's how home games, divisions, conferences, and structures will work in the league's next season.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/overwatch\/news\/overwatch-league-new-division-structure-home-games-2020","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Overwatch League reveals new division structure, home game plans for 2020 season","og_description":"Here's how home games, divisions, conferences, and structures will work in the league's next season.","og_url":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/overwatch\/news\/overwatch-league-new-division-structure-home-games-2020","og_site_name":"Dot Esports","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/DOTesports\/","article_published_time":"2019-07-16T12:05:37+00:00","article_modified_time":"2019-07-16T15:53:48+00:00","og_image":[{"width":768,"height":512,"url":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/15173229\/121639_S3W5D1_TorontoDefiantVsAtlantaReign_Stewart-VollandBs.jpg?resize=768,512","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Liz Richardson","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@mizliz_","twitter_site":"@DotEsports","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Liz Richardson","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/overwatch\/news\/overwatch-league-new-division-structure-home-games-2020#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/overwatch\/news\/overwatch-league-new-division-structure-home-games-2020"},"author":{"name":"Liz Richardson","@id":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/#\/schema\/person\/f0fd9cbdae01c57038b8e59f514c74e1"},"headline":"Overwatch League reveals new division structure, home game plans for 2020 season","datePublished":"2019-07-16T12:05:37+00:00","dateModified":"2019-07-16T15:53:48+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/overwatch\/news\/overwatch-league-new-division-structure-home-games-2020"},"wordCount":736,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/overwatch\/news\/overwatch-league-new-division-structure-home-games-2020#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/15173229\/121639_S3W5D1_TorontoDefiantVsAtlantaReign_Stewart-VollandBs.jpg","keywords":["Overwatch League"],"articleSection":["Overwatch"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/overwatch\/news\/overwatch-league-new-division-structure-home-games-2020","url":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/overwatch\/news\/overwatch-league-new-division-structure-home-games-2020","name":"Overwatch League reveals new division structure, home game plans for 2020 season","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/overwatch\/news\/overwatch-league-new-division-structure-home-games-2020#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/overwatch\/news\/overwatch-league-new-division-structure-home-games-2020#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/15173229\/121639_S3W5D1_TorontoDefiantVsAtlantaReign_Stewart-VollandBs.jpg","datePublished":"2019-07-16T12:05:37+00:00","dateModified":"2019-07-16T15:53:48+00:00","description":"Here's how home games, divisions, conferences, and structures will work in the league's next season.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/overwatch\/news\/overwatch-league-new-division-structure-home-games-2020#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/dotesports.com\/overwatch\/news\/overwatch-league-new-division-structure-home-games-2020"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/overwatch\/news\/overwatch-league-new-division-structure-home-games-2020#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/15173229\/121639_S3W5D1_TorontoDefiantVsAtlantaReign_Stewart-VollandBs.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/15173229\/121639_S3W5D1_TorontoDefiantVsAtlantaReign_Stewart-VollandBs.jpg","width":1800,"height":1200,"caption":"Photo by Stewart Volland via Blizzard Entertainment"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/overwatch\/news\/overwatch-league-new-division-structure-home-games-2020#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Overwatch League reveals new division structure, home game plans for 2020 season"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/","name":"Dot Esports","description":"","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/#organization","name":"Dot Esports","url":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/05103313\/logo-dot_esports-mark-black.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/05103313\/logo-dot_esports-mark-black.png","width":300,"height":300,"caption":"Dot Esports"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/DOTesports\/","https:\/\/x.com\/DotEsports","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/dotesports\/","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/channel\/UCckaIn-3KqLYfppkj4DeTAw"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/#\/schema\/person\/f0fd9cbdae01c57038b8e59f514c74e1","name":"Liz Richardson","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/b80663d98f74e83ba358f2e1ac2b5c1b","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50ef58870899a842a5dbf176a742fd43?s=96&d=mm&r=g&resize=96%2C96","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50ef58870899a842a5dbf176a742fd43?s=96&d=mm&r=g&resize=96%2C96","caption":"Liz Richardson"},"description":"Liz is a freelance writer and editor from Chicago. Her favorite thing is the Overwatch League; her second favorite thing is pretending iced coffee is a meal. She specializes in educational content, patch notes that (actually) make sense, and aggressively supporting Tier 2 Overwatch. When she's not writing, Liz is expressing hot takes on Twitter and making bad life choices at Target.","sameAs":["https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/mizlizrichardson\/","https:\/\/x.com\/mizliz_"],"url":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/author\/lizrichardson1"}]}},"raw_content":"This article is brought to you by\u00a0StatBanana, the best Overwatch strategy tool. The Overwatch League began in 2018 with plans of localization, home games, and delivering the experience of a global esports league. Two years later, the league has revealed information about the 2020 season, which will see teams moving to their home cities and hosting games around the world. Jon Spector, senior director of partnerships and competition for the Overwatch League, talked with Dot Esports to give fans more information about next year\u2019s ambitious season.\u00a0 Home games For the 2019 season, the Overwatch League expanded its horizons beyond the Blizzard Arena in Burbank, California. Although they haven\u2019t been regular occurrences, \u201chomestand\u201d games took place in Dallas and Atlanta, and one more is planned for the greater Los Angeles area in August. The homestand events in Dallas and Atlanta were ultimately successful in bringing the Overwatch League experience to sold-out crowds in different parts of the country. \u201cNext year, every match will look like that,\u201d Spector told Dot Esports.\u00a0 During the 2020 Overwatch League season, each team will host a minimum of two homestand events at their local arenas with a maximum of five events per team. These events will mimic the current homestand model, in which players travel to the city early in the week and play their matches on Saturday and Sunday.\u00a0 \u201cIt\u2019s a similar format to what we\u2019ve done in Dallas and Atlanta and building on those successes,\u201d Spector said. \u201cIn 2019, we had a couple of these homestand weekends... as tests and an opportunity to sort of learn and have players and staff and our team have a crack at what an event in Atlanta looks like, what an event in Dallas looks like.\u201d\u00a0 Divisions The Overwatch League is separated into two divisions, Atlantic and Pacific, with 10 teams in each division. While this was convenient when all of the teams were based in Los Angeles, traveling within such large divisions would create additional burdens. In 2020, teams will be relegated to a five-team division under the larger umbrella of a conference. Atlantic Conference\u00a0 The former Atlantic Division, which held the Overwatch League\u2019s only two European teams, will be split into two smaller divisions under the Atlantic Conference.\u00a0 The Southern Atlantic Division includes the Atlanta Reign, Florida Mayhem, Houston Outlaws, Washington Justice, and Philadelphia Fusion.\u00a0The Northern Atlantic Division includes the Boston Uprising, New York Excelsior, Toronto Defiant, and the league\u2019s two European teams, the London Spitfire and Paris Eternal.\u00a0\u00a0 Pacific Conference\u00a0 Since the Overwatch League has multiple teams from Eastern Asia, the Pacific Conference had to account for those travel concerns.\u00a0\u00a0 The Western Pacific Division includes the Dallas Fuel, Los Angeles Gladiators, Los Angeles Valiant, San Francisco Shock, and Vancouver Titans.\u00a0The Eastern Pacific Division includes all of the Asia-based teams: the Seoul Dynasty, Hangzhou Spark, Guangzhou Charge, Shanghai Dragons, and Chengdu Hunters.\u00a0 These smaller divisions will reduce the amount of time and money teams spend on traveling from their home bases. \u201cThis is obviously a huge step forward for the league to go into the sort of full \u2018home and away\u2019 format,\u201d Spector said. \u201cGiven the sort of magnitude of that challenge, one of the things that we\u2019re focused on is, \u2018How do you simplify travel and logistics where possible?\u2019\u201d\u00a0\u00a0 Structure\u00a0 While the Overwatch League is facing a lot of big changes in the 2020 season, one of the things that isn\u2019t changing is the overall structure of the season. Games will still run from February to August and each team will play 28 matches during the season, the same as in 2019. No additional expansion teams will be added in 2020 to give existing teams the chance to adjust to the homestand model.\u00a0 Teams will be responsible for the selection of home venues, operating those venues, and engaging their local fan bases. More information on this is expected to be released in the coming months on a team-by-team basis. The goal, according to the league, is to eventually evolve this model into teams hosting more matches per year beyond the 2020 season.\u00a0 You can learn more about the 2020 Overwatch League format in our full interview with Spector.","apple_news_notices":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/15173229\/121639_S3W5D1_TorontoDefiantVsAtlantaReign_Stewart-VollandBs.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/152124"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1722"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=152124"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/152124\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/152136"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=152124"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=152124"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=152124"},{"taxonomy":"invoiceable_action","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/invoiceable_action?post=152124"},{"taxonomy":"internal-label","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/internal-label?post=152124"},{"taxonomy":"article_type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/article_type?post=152124"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=152124"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}

-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/overwatch\/news\/overwatch-league-new-division-structure-home-games-2020\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Overwatch League reveals new division structure, home game plans for 2020 season\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Here's how home games, divisions, conferences, and structures will work in the league's next season.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/overwatch\/news\/overwatch-league-new-division-structure-home-games-2020\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Dot Esports\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/DOTesports\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2019-07-16T12:05:37+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2019-07-16T15:53:48+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/15173229\/121639_S3W5D1_TorontoDefiantVsAtlantaReign_Stewart-VollandBs.jpg?resize=768,512\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"768\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"512\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Liz Richardson\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@mizliz_\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@DotEsports\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Liz Richardson\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"NewsArticle\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/overwatch\/news\/overwatch-league-new-division-structure-home-games-2020#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/overwatch\/news\/overwatch-league-new-division-structure-home-games-2020\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Liz Richardson\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/#\/schema\/person\/f0fd9cbdae01c57038b8e59f514c74e1\"},\"headline\":\"Overwatch League reveals new division structure, home game plans for 2020 season\",\"datePublished\":\"2019-07-16T12:05:37+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2019-07-16T15:53:48+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/overwatch\/news\/overwatch-league-new-division-structure-home-games-2020\"},\"wordCount\":736,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/overwatch\/news\/overwatch-league-new-division-structure-home-games-2020#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/15173229\/121639_S3W5D1_TorontoDefiantVsAtlantaReign_Stewart-VollandBs.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Overwatch League\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Overwatch\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/overwatch\/news\/overwatch-league-new-division-structure-home-games-2020\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/overwatch\/news\/overwatch-league-new-division-structure-home-games-2020\",\"name\":\"Overwatch League reveals new division structure, home game plans for 2020 season\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/overwatch\/news\/overwatch-league-new-division-structure-home-games-2020#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/overwatch\/news\/overwatch-league-new-division-structure-home-games-2020#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/15173229\/121639_S3W5D1_TorontoDefiantVsAtlantaReign_Stewart-VollandBs.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2019-07-16T12:05:37+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2019-07-16T15:53:48+00:00\",\"description\":\"Here's how home games, divisions, conferences, and structures will work in the league's next season.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/overwatch\/news\/overwatch-league-new-division-structure-home-games-2020#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/overwatch\/news\/overwatch-league-new-division-structure-home-games-2020\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/overwatch\/news\/overwatch-league-new-division-structure-home-games-2020#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/15173229\/121639_S3W5D1_TorontoDefiantVsAtlantaReign_Stewart-VollandBs.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/15173229\/121639_S3W5D1_TorontoDefiantVsAtlantaReign_Stewart-VollandBs.jpg\",\"width\":1800,\"height\":1200,\"caption\":\"Photo by Stewart Volland via Blizzard Entertainment\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/overwatch\/news\/overwatch-league-new-division-structure-home-games-2020#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Overwatch League reveals new division structure, home game plans for 2020 season\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/\",\"name\":\"Dot Esports\",\"description\":\"\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Dot Esports\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/05103313\/logo-dot_esports-mark-black.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/05103313\/logo-dot_esports-mark-black.png\",\"width\":300,\"height\":300,\"caption\":\"Dot Esports\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/DOTesports\/\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/DotEsports\",\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/dotesports\/\",\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/channel\/UCckaIn-3KqLYfppkj4DeTAw\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/#\/schema\/person\/f0fd9cbdae01c57038b8e59f514c74e1\",\"name\":\"Liz Richardson\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/b80663d98f74e83ba358f2e1ac2b5c1b\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50ef58870899a842a5dbf176a742fd43?s=96&d=mm&r=g&resize=96%2C96\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50ef58870899a842a5dbf176a742fd43?s=96&d=mm&r=g&resize=96%2C96\",\"caption\":\"Liz Richardson\"},\"description\":\"Liz is a freelance writer and editor from Chicago. Her favorite thing is the Overwatch League; her second favorite thing is pretending iced coffee is a meal. She specializes in educational content, patch notes that (actually) make sense, and aggressively supporting Tier 2 Overwatch. When she's not writing, Liz is expressing hot takes on Twitter and making bad life choices at Target.\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/mizlizrichardson\/\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/mizliz_\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/author\/lizrichardson1\"}]}<\/script>\n","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Overwatch League reveals new division structure, home game plans for 2020 season","description":"Here's how home games, divisions, conferences, and structures will work in the league's next season.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/overwatch\/news\/overwatch-league-new-division-structure-home-games-2020","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Overwatch League reveals new division structure, home game plans for 2020 season","og_description":"Here's how home games, divisions, conferences, and structures will work in the league's next season.","og_url":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/overwatch\/news\/overwatch-league-new-division-structure-home-games-2020","og_site_name":"Dot Esports","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/DOTesports\/","article_published_time":"2019-07-16T12:05:37+00:00","article_modified_time":"2019-07-16T15:53:48+00:00","og_image":[{"width":768,"height":512,"url":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/15173229\/121639_S3W5D1_TorontoDefiantVsAtlantaReign_Stewart-VollandBs.jpg?resize=768,512","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Liz Richardson","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@mizliz_","twitter_site":"@DotEsports","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Liz Richardson","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/overwatch\/news\/overwatch-league-new-division-structure-home-games-2020#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/overwatch\/news\/overwatch-league-new-division-structure-home-games-2020"},"author":{"name":"Liz Richardson","@id":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/#\/schema\/person\/f0fd9cbdae01c57038b8e59f514c74e1"},"headline":"Overwatch League reveals new division structure, home game plans for 2020 season","datePublished":"2019-07-16T12:05:37+00:00","dateModified":"2019-07-16T15:53:48+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/overwatch\/news\/overwatch-league-new-division-structure-home-games-2020"},"wordCount":736,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/overwatch\/news\/overwatch-league-new-division-structure-home-games-2020#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/15173229\/121639_S3W5D1_TorontoDefiantVsAtlantaReign_Stewart-VollandBs.jpg","keywords":["Overwatch League"],"articleSection":["Overwatch"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/overwatch\/news\/overwatch-league-new-division-structure-home-games-2020","url":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/overwatch\/news\/overwatch-league-new-division-structure-home-games-2020","name":"Overwatch League reveals new division structure, home game plans for 2020 season","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/overwatch\/news\/overwatch-league-new-division-structure-home-games-2020#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/overwatch\/news\/overwatch-league-new-division-structure-home-games-2020#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/15173229\/121639_S3W5D1_TorontoDefiantVsAtlantaReign_Stewart-VollandBs.jpg","datePublished":"2019-07-16T12:05:37+00:00","dateModified":"2019-07-16T15:53:48+00:00","description":"Here's how home games, divisions, conferences, and structures will work in the league's next season.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/overwatch\/news\/overwatch-league-new-division-structure-home-games-2020#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/dotesports.com\/overwatch\/news\/overwatch-league-new-division-structure-home-games-2020"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/overwatch\/news\/overwatch-league-new-division-structure-home-games-2020#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/15173229\/121639_S3W5D1_TorontoDefiantVsAtlantaReign_Stewart-VollandBs.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/15173229\/121639_S3W5D1_TorontoDefiantVsAtlantaReign_Stewart-VollandBs.jpg","width":1800,"height":1200,"caption":"Photo by Stewart Volland via Blizzard Entertainment"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/overwatch\/news\/overwatch-league-new-division-structure-home-games-2020#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Overwatch League reveals new division structure, home game plans for 2020 season"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/","name":"Dot Esports","description":"","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/#organization","name":"Dot Esports","url":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/05103313\/logo-dot_esports-mark-black.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/05103313\/logo-dot_esports-mark-black.png","width":300,"height":300,"caption":"Dot Esports"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/DOTesports\/","https:\/\/x.com\/DotEsports","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/dotesports\/","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/channel\/UCckaIn-3KqLYfppkj4DeTAw"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/#\/schema\/person\/f0fd9cbdae01c57038b8e59f514c74e1","name":"Liz Richardson","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/b80663d98f74e83ba358f2e1ac2b5c1b","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50ef58870899a842a5dbf176a742fd43?s=96&d=mm&r=g&resize=96%2C96","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50ef58870899a842a5dbf176a742fd43?s=96&d=mm&r=g&resize=96%2C96","caption":"Liz Richardson"},"description":"Liz is a freelance writer and editor from Chicago. Her favorite thing is the Overwatch League; her second favorite thing is pretending iced coffee is a meal. She specializes in educational content, patch notes that (actually) make sense, and aggressively supporting Tier 2 Overwatch. When she's not writing, Liz is expressing hot takes on Twitter and making bad life choices at Target.","sameAs":["https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/mizlizrichardson\/","https:\/\/x.com\/mizliz_"],"url":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/author\/lizrichardson1"}]}},"raw_content":"This article is brought to you by\u00a0StatBanana, the best Overwatch strategy tool. The Overwatch League began in 2018 with plans of localization, home games, and delivering the experience of a global esports league. Two years later, the league has revealed information about the 2020 season, which will see teams moving to their home cities and hosting games around the world. Jon Spector, senior director of partnerships and competition for the Overwatch League, talked with Dot Esports to give fans more information about next year\u2019s ambitious season.\u00a0 Home games For the 2019 season, the Overwatch League expanded its horizons beyond the Blizzard Arena in Burbank, California. Although they haven\u2019t been regular occurrences, \u201chomestand\u201d games took place in Dallas and Atlanta, and one more is planned for the greater Los Angeles area in August. The homestand events in Dallas and Atlanta were ultimately successful in bringing the Overwatch League experience to sold-out crowds in different parts of the country. \u201cNext year, every match will look like that,\u201d Spector told Dot Esports.\u00a0 During the 2020 Overwatch League season, each team will host a minimum of two homestand events at their local arenas with a maximum of five events per team. These events will mimic the current homestand model, in which players travel to the city early in the week and play their matches on Saturday and Sunday.\u00a0 \u201cIt\u2019s a similar format to what we\u2019ve done in Dallas and Atlanta and building on those successes,\u201d Spector said. \u201cIn 2019, we had a couple of these homestand weekends... as tests and an opportunity to sort of learn and have players and staff and our team have a crack at what an event in Atlanta looks like, what an event in Dallas looks like.\u201d\u00a0 Divisions The Overwatch League is separated into two divisions, Atlantic and Pacific, with 10 teams in each division. While this was convenient when all of the teams were based in Los Angeles, traveling within such large divisions would create additional burdens. In 2020, teams will be relegated to a five-team division under the larger umbrella of a conference. Atlantic Conference\u00a0 The former Atlantic Division, which held the Overwatch League\u2019s only two European teams, will be split into two smaller divisions under the Atlantic Conference.\u00a0 The Southern Atlantic Division includes the Atlanta Reign, Florida Mayhem, Houston Outlaws, Washington Justice, and Philadelphia Fusion.\u00a0The Northern Atlantic Division includes the Boston Uprising, New York Excelsior, Toronto Defiant, and the league\u2019s two European teams, the London Spitfire and Paris Eternal.\u00a0\u00a0 Pacific Conference\u00a0 Since the Overwatch League has multiple teams from Eastern Asia, the Pacific Conference had to account for those travel concerns.\u00a0\u00a0 The Western Pacific Division includes the Dallas Fuel, Los Angeles Gladiators, Los Angeles Valiant, San Francisco Shock, and Vancouver Titans.\u00a0The Eastern Pacific Division includes all of the Asia-based teams: the Seoul Dynasty, Hangzhou Spark, Guangzhou Charge, Shanghai Dragons, and Chengdu Hunters.\u00a0 These smaller divisions will reduce the amount of time and money teams spend on traveling from their home bases. \u201cThis is obviously a huge step forward for the league to go into the sort of full \u2018home and away\u2019 format,\u201d Spector said. \u201cGiven the sort of magnitude of that challenge, one of the things that we\u2019re focused on is, \u2018How do you simplify travel and logistics where possible?\u2019\u201d\u00a0\u00a0 Structure\u00a0 While the Overwatch League is facing a lot of big changes in the 2020 season, one of the things that isn\u2019t changing is the overall structure of the season. Games will still run from February to August and each team will play 28 matches during the season, the same as in 2019. No additional expansion teams will be added in 2020 to give existing teams the chance to adjust to the homestand model.\u00a0 Teams will be responsible for the selection of home venues, operating those venues, and engaging their local fan bases. More information on this is expected to be released in the coming months on a team-by-team basis. The goal, according to the league, is to eventually evolve this model into teams hosting more matches per year beyond the 2020 season.\u00a0 You can learn more about the 2020 Overwatch League format in our full interview with Spector.","apple_news_notices":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/15173229\/121639_S3W5D1_TorontoDefiantVsAtlantaReign_Stewart-VollandBs.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/152124"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1722"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=152124"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/152124\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/152136"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=152124"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=152124"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=152124"},{"taxonomy":"invoiceable_action","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/invoiceable_action?post=152124"},{"taxonomy":"internal-label","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/internal-label?post=152124"},{"taxonomy":"article_type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/article_type?post=152124"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=152124"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}

Rokurou

The Overwatch<\/em> League began in 2018 with plans of localization, home games, and delivering the experience of a global esports league. Two years later, the league has revealed information about the 2020 season, which will see teams moving to their home cities and hosting games around the world.<\/p>

Jon Spector, senior director of partnerships and competition for the Overwatch<\/em> League, talked with Dot Esports to give fans more information about next year\u2019s ambitious season. <\/p>