Overwatch League: Teams, Schedule, Results and Where to Watch (VOD)

About Ed Thorn

Ed joined Metabomb in May 2017 and is responsible for the Overwatch and Destiny sections of the site.

Our Overwatch League guide contains team details, a schedule, results details and details of where to watch video of each match.

While 2016's BlizzCon gathering was dominated largely by talk of Sombra and the then-new Arcade Mode for Overwatch, we also got our first glimpse at how Blizzard intended to handle Overwatch's eSports scene in the years ahead. To help you understand how exactly this new competitive system works, we've put together an Overwatch League guide which should answer any questions that you have.

We're incredibly excited about the future of this programme for Overwatch, and so you can rest assured that we'll be covering this scene in-depth now the matches are under way, with streams, analysis and results-tracking for matches as and when they're finished.

Got any questions? Let us know in the comments and we'll do our best to answer them, although we think this guide should provide you with all of the currently known information. If we've missed anything, do drop us a note and we'll be sure to add it in.

UPDATE 12/3/2018

Now that Stage Two's action has kicked off, we've updated this guide with all the latest results and VOD. Stay tuned for further updates as the Overwatch League progresses!

Overwatch League: Catch up on all the action

Stage 2

Catch up on all the action from previous weeks.

Stage 1

Use the links below to catch up on all the matches from previous weeks.

We'll be updating this article with all the results and VOD throughout each week, so keep this page bookmarked if you want to keep up to date!

In the section just below we've posted all of next week's upcoming matches.

Overwatch League: Stage 2, Week 4 - Match Schedule

The third week's Overwatch League matches start on March 14th and run through to March 18th. Below you'll find a complete breakdown of Week Four's match schedule.

Wednesday - March 14th

Boston Uprising vs Dallas Fuel (11:00 PM BST)

Thursday - March 15th

New York Excelsior vs Seoul Dynasty (1:00 AM BST)
Philadelphia Fusion vs Shanghai Dragons (3:00 AM BST)
Shanghai Dragons vs New York Excelsior (11:00 PM BST)

Friday - March 16th

Florida Mayhem vs Los Angeles Valiant (1:00 AM BST)
Houston Outlaws vs Los Angeles Gladiators (3:00 AM BST)
Los Angeles Gladiators vs Florida Mayhem (11:00 PM BST)

Saturday - March 17th

London Spitfire vs San Francisco Shock (1:00 AM BST)
Los Angeles Valiant vs Boston Uprising (3:00 AM BST)
Seoul Dynasty vs London Spitfire (8:00 PM BST)
San Francisco Shock vs Houston Outlaws (10:00 PM BST)

Sunday - March 18th

Dallas Fuel vs Philadelphia Fusion (12:00 AM BST)

Overwatch League: Season 1 teams

All of the teams for the first season of the Overwatch League have now been confirmed. There are twelve in total, split across two different divisions (Pacific and Atlantic).

Here's who's who in each of the divisions. Click on each team name for an overview of the team roster and coaching staff.

Pacific Division:

Dallas Fuel
Los Angeles Gladiators
Los Angeles Valiant
San Francisco Shock
Seoul Dynasty
Shanghai Dragons

Atlantic Division:

Boston Uprising
Florida Mayhem
Houston Outlaws
London Spitfire
New York Excelsior
Philadelphia Fusion

Overwatch League: Season 1 schedule

Season 1 will begin properly in January, and it will consist of four stages of five weeks action per stage. There'll be a 10-day break between competitive bouts to allow teams to prepare for the next stage of the competition.

Stage 1: January 10th - February 10th
Stage 2: February 21st - March 24th
Stage 3: April 4th - May 5th
Stage 4: May 16th - June 16th

The last Saturday during each stage will see two epic title matches take place. The top three teams at that point will enter a seeded playoff for a total of $125,000 in performance bonuses.

At the conclusion of Stage 4, six teams will then move into the post-season phase where they'll compete for the inaugural trophy.

The top two teams from each division will automatically qualify for this stage of the competition. The remaining slots will be filled by the top four teams based on their performance record across the entire season.

Here's the schedule for these final matches. The two teams who survive the playoffs will be entered into the Grand Final for Year 1 of Overwatch League:

Playoffs: July 11th - July 22nd
Grand Final: July 26th - July 28th

As for the winners? They'll walk away with a cool one million dollars in bonus money, as well as the trophy.

To wrap up the first year of the highest level competitive play, there will then be something called an All-Star Weekend in August. More details about that side of the League are expected during 2018.

Overwatch League: Format

Throughout the season, each team will play a total of 40 games. 20 of those matches will see them face off against teams in their own division, while the remaining 20 matches will be cross-division in nature.

From these two divisions, teams will be seeded into the postseason matchups and championship playoffs. Expect more details on how exactly this post-season seeding will work in a future update to our guide.

A few extra details about how matches will be played have been released by Blizzard. Here's the lowdown:

A total of three matches will be take place each day from Wednesday - Saturday each week.
Every match will consist of a set of four maps.
The season map pool will be revealed by Blizzard ahead of the start of each season.

Overwatch League: How to watch the action

You can catch every match over on the Overwatch's League's official Twitch Channel. We'll also be embedded the latest video on demand into the top of the page as well so you can catch up on recent matches.

Overwatch League: Official Skins

For the first time in competitive Overwatch, each team will have their own bespoke skins to make following each match a lot easier.

Each team has their own home and away colours, and fans of particular teams are able to purchase these skins to show their support. Unlike almost every other skin in Overwatch, players cannot Overwatch League skins through cracking open loot boxes. Instead, you purchase them using tokens which are bought with real money and a portion of this cash directly supports the League teams.

If you log into Overwatch between now and February 13th you'll receive 100 free tokens which you can use to purchase one team skin of your choice. Each future team skin will then require 100 league tokens.

Here's the pricing breakdown.

100 Tokens = USD $4.99 (£4.99)
200 Tokens = USD $9.99 (£9.99)
400 Tokens = USD $19.99 (£19.99)
900 Tokens = USD $39.99 (£39.99)
2600 Tokens = USD $99.99 (£99.99)

Without further ado, this video by Overwatch Central provides a closer look at all the brand new Overwatch League skins and how to go about purchasing league tokens.

Overwatch: League Prize Money and Bonuses

Here's how much bonus cash is available in the first year of Overwatch League. 50% of all money must be awarded to players on top of their agreed salaries.

Stage Title Match

1st Place: $100,000
2nd Place: $25,000
Total: $500,000 over four stages

Regular Season placement bonuses

1st Place: $300,000
2nd Place: $200,000
3rd + 4th Place: $150,000
5th + 6th Place: $100,000
7th + 8th Place: $75,000
9th + 10th Place: $50,000
11th + 12th Place: $25,000
Total: $1,300,000

Championship playoffs placement bonuses

1st Place: $1,000,000
2nd Place: $400,000
3rd + 4th Place: $100,000
5th + 6th Place: $50,000
Total: $1,700,000

Overwatch League: Recruitment and Rewards

Tryouts

For the first competitive season, Blizzard hosted an Overwatch combine. If you're not familiar with the term from traditional sports, it's a place where prospective competitors can show off specific skills to a gathering of team managers, scouts and coaches.

Players who already demonstrated their skills at Overwatch were invited to just such an event where they tried out for teams. Progressing through a number of different tests at the event, team managers were able to find the best candidate for rounding out their existing roster.

Try-outs were purely by invitation during this starting phase, and Blizzard sent out requests for top-tier players to express an interest in being considered for a collection of professional Overwatch teams. You can read more details about this selection process over at our news report on the announcement.

Signing window

Following a player scouting report that compiled top performers, the Overwatch league is opening an official player signing window for Season 1's competition. This signing windowruns from 1st August 2017 to 30th October 2017, and allows officially announced teams to sign players and form their team.

Overwatch League: Rewards

If a player is signed during the combine process, they'll be guaranteed a contract which ensures they receive a minimum salary and a benefits package. The duration of the contract and the exact remuneration figures can be found below.

Players must be signed to one-year contracts, and these can be extended by an additional year. Contracts will guarantee players at least $50,000 in salary, including health insurance and a retirement savings plan.
Players must also receive 50% of the team’s performance-based income. This means any winnings from the first season’s $3.5 million prize pool.