Fansided

Houston Overwatch League franchise seeks to win over all of Texas for OpTic Gaming

By Derek Helling

Attendees play Activision Blizzard Inc.'s Overwatch computer game at the AOC Open e-Sports event in Tokyo, Japan, on Saturday, July 1, 2017. Players in Japan, which held some of the world's first televised video-game battles in the 1980s, no longer has serious training grounds for its players. Laws meant to police organized crime and gambling have cast a net so wide they prevent paid gaming competitions. Photographer: Akio Kon/Bloomberg via Getty Images
Attendees play Activision Blizzard Inc.'s Overwatch computer game at the AOC Open e-Sports event in Tokyo, Japan, on Saturday, July 1, 2017. Players in Japan, which held some of the world's first televised video-game battles in the 1980s, no longer has serious training grounds for its players. Laws meant to police organized crime and gambling have cast a net so wide they prevent paid gaming competitions. Photographer: Akio Kon/Bloomberg via Getty Images /
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As the Overwatch League looks to its first season, the OpTic Gaming franchise in Houston is excited about the opportunity for eSports that the entire state of Texas promises.

When most sports fans think of Texas, one of the state’s multiple MLB, NBA, NCAA, NFL franchises and/or the Dallas Stars usually come to mind. OpTic Gaming thinks that eSports is just as prominent in the state, and is in the process of constructing one of the 12 founding franchises of Blizzard Entertainment’s Overwatch League in Houston to take advantage of it.

The connections to the state in and around Houston are immediately apparent. Two of the franchise’s partners are Texas Rangers co-owner Neil Leibman and Dallas’ Chaney Sports Group. Having its own base of operations in Dallas as well, OpTic was excited about the chance to bring an Overwatch League franchise to compete for the state of Texas when the opportunity arose.

“Overwatch for us is a natural extension of what we’re already good at, and that’s first-person shooter games,” said OpTic COO Ryan Musselman. “OpTic has a very storied history within that specific genre. We have won championships in many verticals in that genre. In 2006 I was playing X-Box Live with [team owner] Hector [Rodriguez] across the country and we had an idea of how this was going to be successful. It wasn’t until we started creating content that we knew something special was here. Getting into Overwatch is a monumental step forward for us. We see it as a great opportunity to partner with Blizzard as this continues to grow.”

Musselman has also been impressed with the approach Blizzard has taken to building the league, which begins preseason competitions in December.

“They [Blizzard] are being great partners to work in order to provide the best environment for players, coaches, managers and all the other staff that will be involved in this league,” Musselman stated. “We all have the collective goal of ensuring the success of the league. It’s been a great partnership so far.”

Although a venue for the competitions hasn’t been secured yet, Musselman says that the franchise is about 50-60 percent done with building its roster of players. He also said that a general manager has been signed, whose identity will be revealed by the franchise later. The process of securing sponsorships for the new team is also heavily on-going.

“For us, it’s a process of recruiting that we are very familiar with and feel confident about,” Musselman explained. “A lot of sponsors have different budget cycles, but we are aligned to continue supporting our staff as we keep picking up sponsorships for the league as well as across the organization. We have made and continue to make progress on that front.”

The thing that perhaps sticks out the most about Overwatch is its player-centric approach to professional eSports.

“Blizzard has created a very player-focused community,” Musselman elaborated. “I think it’s called for. The way the industry is advancing, a well-structured transparent environment in which the players can continue to benefit is definitely called for. If I were a player, I would feel very comfortable with it. It hasn’t been constructed with a blindfold on. You can tell that it’s been thought through as far as what will benefit the player.”

Having that high level of player satisfaction will enable OpTic to compete not only across the league, but with its sister franchise in Dallas as well. While having another franchise in the league in such proximity could be considered a detraction for both franchises, it does create a natural rivalry and Musselman thinks that the eSports following in the state of Texas is strong enough to support both franchises.

“It’s really a feeling of the overall eSports community in Texas,” Musselman commented. “The sum total of all the content watched in 2017 for our content has come to about 14 years of time from right here in Texas. When we see that rich fan base here in Texas for eSports we recognize that we have an opportunity to represent not only Houston, but Austin and San Antonio as well. We touch some major cities throughout the state and want to position ourselves to be the team of Texas. We have fans both locally and globally and are excited about all these opportunities we have.”

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Whether or not OpTic will be able to earn that title of “team of Texas” in competitions with Team Envy during the league’s inaugural season remains to be seen, but what’s certain is that OpTic Gaming is a strong addition to the Overwatch League.