The Houston Outlaws might have had a tough go in the first week of the Lone Star Challenge, but now the team is busy trying to find room for the trophy.
The Outlaws overcame first-week jitters with a thrilling 4-2 victory over the Dallas Fuel in Monday's Lone Star Challenge match, to capture the inaugural Lone Star Challenge championship. The Lone Star Challenge is a first-of-its-kind professional esports series featuring the Dallas and Houston teams from the Overwatch League.
The Lone Star Challenge features weekly skills events and team competitions streamed on YouTube, followed each Saturday by the broadcast of a rare, behind-the-scenes TV docuseries. The docuseries chronicles the lives of professional esports athletes and coaches and reveals what life is like for some of the world's most elite gamers competing at the highest level.
You can watch the first two episodes of the series below.
The series wraps this Saturday; you can watch it at noon on this station, its website and its mobile app. (Please note: this event is only viewable in Texas)
While esports may seem like a foreign language to some, millions are fluent.
The esports industry has skyrocketed over the last few years with revenue now surpassing $1 billion and growing.
By 2021, esports is projected to have more viewers (via broadcast, Twitch, YouTube) than every major sports league in the world except the NFL.
Launched in 2018 and now in its third season, the Overwatch League is the first global esports league with city-based franchise teams, emulating traditional sports organizations. The Dallas Fuel and the Houston Outlaws are founding organizations in the league. Teams compete in Overwatch, a six-on-six team-based action game. Today, the Overwatch League has 20 teams across the world, with players competing for an annual championship worth $1.5 million.
The Dallas Fuel and the Houston Outlaws each hosted successful Overwatch League home weekend live events in February and March, respectively, where thousands of fans packed arenas to watch live esports competition. As the sports world reacted to COVID-19, esports leagues and teams quickly pivoted to bring competition and gaming entertainment online, with Overwatch League matches streaming exclusively on YouTube.
Overwatch League professional broadcasters Jake Lyon and Mitch "Uber" Leslie will serve as commentators for all challenges and the penultimate best-of-seven Dallas Fuel vs. Houston Outlaws match. Skills challenges and team matches will also be streamed on the Dallas Fuel YouTube channel and the Houston Outlaws YouTube channel beginning May 4.
Sponsors signed on to support the Dallas and Houston series include Samsung, H-E-B, Favor, Jack Link's, Zenni Gaming and Acer's Predator gaming line.
