Ticket sales for the Call of Duty and Overwatch leagues are selling at a very reasonable rate, according to Adam Stern of the Sports Business Journal.
Stern notes that both leagues have experienced “largely positive” ticket sales and, as the franchises are still in the early stages, sales could continue to go up as homestands approach.
Per the reports, some teams are doing better than others and the better-performing ones are said to be those involving experienced esports veterans who are well versed in event production.
While sales have been alright, the outbreak of the coronavirus is believed to have had a negative impact given that Overwatch League homestands have been canceled in China. Homestands for both the Shanghai Dragons and Hangzhou Sparks have been put on hold, with the February dates canceled. Fans who bought tickets will be issued refunds.
The Call of Duty League has been particularly successful as a result of YouTube acquiring streaming rights for Activision Blizzard’s esports league last month. The Minnesota RØKKR saw to 102,000 viewers across its recent three-day homestand, something not out of place for a CoD event in recent years. And, for comparison, CWL Anaheim last June topped off at 122,000 viewers.
The Chicago Huntsman team was the event’s most popular, and by a huge margin, with their matches against Dallas Empire and OpTic Gaming the most-watched games.
The Call of Duty League will continue on February 8-9 with the London Ravens homestand, and the Overwatch League will kick off at the same time to present the Toronto Defiant vs Paris Eternal as an opener.
It’s no surprise that both leagues are doing well given the spike in interest where esports is concerned. The emergence of the coronavirus is very unfortunate - of course, on a much bigger scale as people have actually lost their lives as a direct result - but the gaming community has been affected as well and the aforementioned leagues would have probably done a bit better had it not come about.
Source: Dot Esports
