We made it. We have truly arrived as a sports city. Philadelphia is the home of the 2019 Overwatch League Grand Finals. Press release after the jump: IRVINE, Calif. – May 8, 2019 – The Overwatch LeagueTM today announced the date, venue, and ticketing availability for the 2019 Overwatch League Grand Finals. The Grand Finals, which will determine the league champion, will be held at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on Sunday, September 29th. The two teams that qualify for the Grand Finals will compete for the League’s championship trophy and a share of the US $1.7 million prize pool—with the winning team getting $1.1M and the runner-up taking home $600K. “Philadelphia is a legendary sports town with amazing fans and the Wells Fargo Center is the perfect venue to crown our next champion,” said Nate Nanzer, Overwatch League Commissioner. “The 2018 Grand Finals in Brooklyn was epic but we’re looking to up the ante for our season finale in Philly. We have 20 teams in the League now, so the path to the championship is going to be extremely competitive and very entertaining.” The 2019 Grand Finals will be livestreamed on Twitch in 190 countries, and broadcast in the U.S. on ABC from 3:00 – 6:00 p.m. EDT on September 29. It will also be available on the ESPN app, overwatchleague.com, and the Overwatch League app. Additionally, the Grand Finals will air in the following countries via additional platforms: Canada (TSN), China (Zhanqi, NetEase CC, Bilibili and Huya) France (Mediawan), Germany (Sport1), and Russia (E Terra TV). Tickets for the 2019 Grand Finals go on sale June 7th, for more information visit overwatchleague.com. The Wells Fargo Center, one of the busiest arenas in the world hosting more than 250 events each year, is home to the NHL’s Philadelphia Flyers, NBA’s Philadelphia 76ers, NLL’s Philadelphia Wings, and the Arena Football League’s Philadelphia Soul. With more than 2.6 million fans walking through its doors each year, the Wells Fargo Center has hosted a long list of nationally-recognized events, including the Republican National Convention (2000), NBA All-Star Weekend (2002), ESPN X Games (2001 and 2002), Stanley Cup Finals (1997 and 2010), NHL Entry Draft (2014), NCAA Men’s Frozen Four (2014), and the Democratic National Convention (2016). “Last year we witnessed thousands of passionate Overwatch® fans at the Grand Finals and we can’t wait to bring this electric event to Philadelphia’s Wells Fargo Center,” said Dave Scott, Chairman and CEO, Comcast Spectacor. “Overwatch League fans will be some of the first guests to enjoy the arena’s new advancements and we look forward to hosting an international audience for premier programming. We are thrilled to bring world-class gaming to Philadelphia’s expanding technology, esports, and entertainment scene.” The arena is currently in the midst of a multi-year, $250-million renovation initiative—Transformation 2020—which is aimed at reinventing every aspect of the fan experience within the venue. The Overwatch League Grand Finals will be the first major event hosted at the facility following a summer of major upgrades and advancements, including an overhaul of the main concourse, brand-new lower bowl seating, and the installation of the world’s first kinetic 4K center-hung entertainment system. The Grand Finals represents the culmination of the 2019 Overwatch League season playoffs, which will feature 12 of the League’s 20 teams. For the postseason, the two division winners along with the next best four teams by record, regardless of division, will automatically qualify. Two additional teams will qualify through a play-in tournament between the seventh- through 12th-place teams. Those eight teams will compete in a double-elimination bracket. The final two teams that advance out of the bracket will compete in the Grand Finals. Additional Grand Finals event details—including ticket pre-sale availability and match times—will be announced at a later date. Visit www.overwatchleague.com/emailto receive the latest Grand Finals news and ticketing updates.<doc-sep>The next Overwatch League grand finals are reportedly set to be held in Philadelphia, according to a report by Rod Breslau for ESPN Esports. The report states that Blizzard Entertainment has revealed plans for Philadelphia to host the 2019 grand finals in meetings with team owners. The presumable venue for the finals would be the Wells Fargo Center, which is operated by Philadelphia Fusion’s parent company Comcast Spectator. Blizzard has been focused on preparing for the Overwatch League’s third season, where teams will be operating their own home venues and preparing for away games. The Dallas Fuel recently hosted the League’s first home game, where a crowd of over 9,000 fans assembled to watch the weekend matches. The 2018 Overwatch League season culminated with a grand finals in New York City at the Barclays Center, where the 11,000 seats sold out for both days of competition. The Philadelphia Fusion was one of the teams in attendance for the grand finals, along with the eventual champions London Spitfire. Additional home games will be hosted in Atlanta, by the Reign, and in Los Angeles by the Valiant in 2019. These events will continue to test the waters before the 2020 launch of home games.<doc-sep>
This article is brought to you by StatBanana, the best Overwatch strategy tool. Overwatch fans in Philadelphia, it’s time to celebrate. The Overwatch League 2019 grand finals will take place in the city’s Wells Fargo Center on Sept. 29, as reported earlier this month. Blizzard’s confirmed today that broadcasts should start at 2pm CT, and that besides the usual Twitch livestream of the Grand Finals there will be a TV broadcast on ABC in the U.S. Fans from Canada, China, France, Germany, and Russia will also be able to watch the Overwatch League grand finals on national TV channels. Philadelphia will only hold the Grand Finals between the top two teams of the league’s 2019 season. Other playoff matches should still take place in the Blizzard Arena in Los Angeles. This will be the fourth city to hold matches of the Overwatch League this season. Including Los Angeles, where all matches usually take place at the Blizzard Arena, players have already competed in Dallas in stage two and will be in Atlanta in the last week of stage three. With the league’s Grand Finals booked for Philadelphia, the city is on its way to become a major esports city. The Fusion is also set to build its own esports arena, the Fusion Arena, in the South Philadelphia Sports Complex in 2021 to host future Overwatch League matches. Blizzard will put tickets on sale on June 7, and players can sign up for email notifications in the Overwatch League website. There might be a pre-sale before that date, but Blizzard said it has yet to announce dates for that. For more details, check out Blizzard’s announcement post.