Coca Cola teams up with the Overwatch League

All Overwatch fans will know that the second season of the Overwatch League kicks off on 14 February, and you can look forward to seeing a new brand enter the equation as Coca Cola have become a new sponsor for the esports tournament.

The new partnership will see Coca Cola becoming the official non-alcoholic beverage sponsor for the Overwatch League for the next three years. This means that Coca Cola will gain access to everything from the 20 Overwatch League teams to other tournaments such as the Overwatch World Cup as well as the annual BlizzCon.

By having a beverage sponsor such as Coca Cola, it’s a true watershed moment for the booming Overwatch League. Not only will game’s parent company, Blizzard Entertainment, gain extra funds through the partnership, but the deal will help to legitimise one of the fastest growing esports tournaments in the world.

What can we expect from the new partnership?

The 2019 Overwatch League promises to be a breakthrough tournament, and Blizzard Entertainment have already inked partnerships with huge brands like Toyota, T-Mobile, Intel and HP. By teaming up with Coca Cola, we can expect to see the soft drink firm’s branding all over the opening match between London Spitfire and Philadelphia Fusion on 14 February.

But the deal with Coca Cola goes much deeper as it penetrates the whole ecosystem surrounding the Overwatch franchise. This means that competitions like the Contenders, Open Division and Tespa Collegiate Series will also benefit from the new partnership.

It comes at a time when Blizzard Entertainment have significantly boosted their broadcasting options. This means that respected broadcasters such as ABC, ESPN2 and Disney XD will carry key Overwatch League matches.

Accompanying this will be the standard viewing options such as via the ESPN app and the live streaming facilities of Twitch.tv. All of which means that we can expect to see the Coca Cola logo appearing on a massive variety of formats which will help boost the brand’s visibility in key new demographics.

Why is Coca Cola partnering with Overwatch?

As esports has grown to become a billion-dollar industry, there’s been something of a goldrush amongst companies to get their brand name featured at these hugely popular gaming tournaments. Energy drinks firms like Red Bull may have got an early start in their esports sponsorship deals, but when a massive multinational like Coca Cola gets involved, you know that things are getting serious.

Coca Cola has already had a proven track record of sponsoring some of the biggest esports tournaments. We saw the brand working with Riot Games’ League of Legends tournaments in 2016, and there was a successful integration with EA Sports’ FIFA competitions in 2017.

But in order to stay ahead of Pepsi’s ambitious plans to sponsor ESL’s Counter Strike Global Offensive tournaments, it’s clear that Coca Cola would need to make a big splash. And by sponsoring the upcoming Overwatch League, it looks like they have made a great start.