Esports league starts strong on ambitious global schedule

They stood, they cheered, they booed and they boozed. Turns out, esports fans in New York aren’t much different from their traditional sports counterparts.

Packing a nearly 2,000-seat venue across the street from Madison Square Garden, those supporters validated the theory behind the Overwatch League’s ambitious global vision.

“This event is everything we could have hoped for,” said Jon Spector, vice president of the competitive video game circuit.

The OWL opened its third season last weekend with matches hosted by franchises in New York and Dallas, and everything about the sold-out shows looked like a payoff on its wager that a world-wide, city-based structure could propel it to the top of a blossoming industry.