The Overwatch League’s list of sponsors continues to thin out amidst the ongoing lawsuit against Activision Blizzard, with Xfinity joining a growing list of sponsors that have disappeared from the league’s official website.
As of September 1, 2021, Xfinity is no longer listed as a sponsor on the OWL website, leaving only Coca-Cola and TeamSpeak remaining. This is not the first time we’ve seen this happen, as T-Mobile and several other sponsors, including Pringles, State Farm, and IBM, have also been removed from the site and from any broadcast or promotional assets. This all takes place in the wake of the ongoing lawsuit involving Activision Blizzard’s company culture.
Outside of this, it is otherwise unstated why exactly Xfinity was removed as a sponsor, as there was no official announcement made by the league in regards to its removal and no replacement sponsor in sight. This was also the case in the other companies that were removed.
Xfinity’s history with the OWL
Xfinity joined the OWL sponsorship roster in 2019, as a primary sponsor of the 2019 postseason and Grand Finals, which took place at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, PA. Not long after that, Xfinity joined the league in a two-year deal as the “Preferred Internet Service Provider and ‘Overwatch League Online Play’ Presenting Sponsor.”
Reach heroic speeds with Xfinity.
— Xfinity (@Xfinity) September 27, 2019
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Fans had already begun to notice that Xfinity was no longer branded on certain league content. Reddit user u/solidsnakejej points out one example in their post, highlighting the Countdown Cup graphics on July 30th and August 6th, the former being branded as “Presented by Xfinity” while the latter is without sponsorship. This could have been the point at which time the sponsorship agreement came to a close.
It’s also worth noting that Xfinity is owned by Comcast Spectator, which is the company that owns the Philadelphia Fusion, one of the OWL’s original franchise teams. This is potentially concerning for fans, especially in light of the recent Dexerto report by Richard Lewis, which spoke of some dissatisfaction expressed by league franchise owners.
But, despite this, it’s not all doom and gloom for the league and its fans. The OWL postseason is coming right around the corner with play-ins starting on September 4, just two days after the new competitive season is set to start. After that, although the postseason will not take place in-person for fans to enjoy, there will still be plenty of high-quality Overwatch to consume, with the best teams battling it out for a prize pool totaling $3.2 million, with 1.5 million going to the Grand Finals champion. A hefty purse, even despite some recent bad press.
