Blizzard have confirmed the final three franchises for the inaugural season of the Overwatch League, rounding out the competition at twelve teams. The three newly confirmed franchises are Philadelphia, owned by Comcast Spectacor, Dallas, owned by Team EnVyUs and their investor Hersh Interactive Group, and finally Houston, owned by OpTic Gaming.

This press release confirms reports by ESPN's Jacob Wolf, who had previously broken the news on the now-announced teams. Wolf tweeted out an explanation on why the first season of the league would not have fourteen teams as previously reported:

Blizzard have also included a number of dates within the announcement. The preseason is set to start on the 6th December this year, with all twelve teams playing in exhibition matches. The regular season itself kicks off on the 10th January, 2018 and will finish in June. Playoffs for the tournament will be held in July 2018.

A full list of the franchises competing in the first season of the Overwatch League can be found below:

  • Boston - Robert Kraft (Chairman and CEO of The Kraft Group)
  • New York - Jeff Wilpon (Co-founder and partner at Sterling.VC and COO of the New York Mets)
  • San Francisco - Andy Miller (Chairman and Founder of NRG Esports)
  • Los Angeles - Noah Whinston (CEO of Immortals)
  • Los Angeles - Stan and Josh Kroenke (Kroenke Sports & Entertainment)
  • Miami and Orlando - Ben Spoont (Misfits CEO / Co-founder)
  • Philadelphia - Comcast Spectacor
  • Dallas - EnVyUs and Hersh Interactive Group
  • Houston - OpTic Gaming
  • London - Cloud9
  • Shanghai - NetEase
  • Seoul - Kevin Chou (Chairman and CEO of KSV eSports)