Kraft Group grabs a slice of the esports action.
Boston Uprising is the latest team to be confirmed as a member of the upcoming Overwatch League. They join San Francisco Shock, Dallas Fuel, Los Angeles Valiant and Shanghai Dragons in the competitive roster.
The Overwatch team represents an early esports effort from The Kraft Group, owners of the New England Patriots. CEO Robert Kraft had this to say on the announcement:
“Esports already has a large global audience, with Overwatch being among the most popular games with more than 35 million players worldwide,” he began.
“We look forward to introducing sports fans in Boston to the new Overwatch League with a local team they can support. We are also eager to use the Boston Uprising to introduce Boston and our franchise to the global community of esports. We are currently assembling a team that we anticipate will compete for championships, as Boston sports fans have come to expect from all of their professional teams.”
Although the team roster has yet to be confirmed by the owners, well-known StarCraft pro player Chris Loranger joined the group as president of gaming earlier this year, and an announcement of the team line-up is expected in the next week or so.
“The ability to represent the city of Boston is extemely exciting,” said Loranger.
“We are also eager for the opportunity to show current and future Overwatch fans how skilled our players are and the importance of deploying a team-centric strategy to be successful. We are excited to start the season.”
The new team representing Boston are claiming the blue, yellow and black colours themed around a Soldier: 76 skin. The colours are drawn straight from the city’s official flag.
New teams for the Overwatch League are being revealed thick and fast, so expect quite a few more announcements in the weeks to come.
The competitive pre-season begins on December 6th this year, when all twelve of the starting League teams will go head to head in a series of exhibition matches. The full rollout of the League proper begins on January 10th 2018.
