2020 Overwatch League Season to Launch with Weekends in Dallas and New York
After the sell-out success of the Dallas Fuel’s first home matches, fans encouraged to sign up now at DallasFuel.com for priority access ticketing
DALLAS (Aug. 20) – The Overwatch League will commence its third season in the recently announced home-and-away format with a weekend of competitive play hosted by the Dallas Fuel and the New York Excelsior. In Dallas, Opening Weekend will feature two matches on Saturday and Sunday. The Fuel will play the Los Angeles Valiant on Feb. 8 and the San Francisco Shock on Feb. 9. Opening Weekend in Dallas will take place at Esports Stadium Arlington, the largest dedicated esports venue in North America.
Beginning with the coming season, the Overwatch League will have four divisions of five teams, with each division being part of either the Pacific or Atlantic Conference. The Dallas Fuel will play 28 regular-season matches and compete in the Western Division of the Pacific Conference, which also includes the Valiant, the Shock, Los Angeles Gladiators and Vancouver Titans.
As part of the first global esports league with city-based teams, each franchise in the Overwatch League will host at least two weekends of competition in the new home-and-away season schedule format. After the success of the Dallas Fuel’s Homestand Weekend in April, the team was awarded the maximum of five weekends of competition in their market.
“Fans in North Texas really helped the esports industry pass a critical first test about the sustainability of a home-and-away format for the Overwatch League with flying colors,” said Mike Rufail, owner and CEO of Envy Gaming, the organization that owns the Dallas Fuel. “We’re excited to be among the teams bringing this new format of play directly to our fans at every possible opportunity.”
The second weekend in Dallas will feature three matches per day and will take place April 4-5 at the Toyota Music Factory. The Fuel will play the Chengdu Hunters on April 4 and the Hangzhou Spark on April 5.
During the third weekend April 25-26 at Allen Event Center, which is also a triple header, the team will face off against the Guangzhou Charge and the Shanghai Dragons. The third weekend will serve as the last week of competition in the first half of the regular season before the mid-season split week.
The locations of the fourth (May 23-24) and fifth (July 11-12) weekends of competitive play hosted by the Fuel will be announced at a later date.
“Our favorite part of what we do is getting to play in front of our fans, and playing at different venues across North Texas will enable us to do just that,” said Aaron “Aero” Atkins, head coach of the Fuel. “Nothing beats the roar of an energized crowd after a big play or hard-fought match.”
Ticket sales for the 2020 Overwatch League season will launch Aug. 28. Sign up for priority ticket access at DallasFuel.com.