ESPN:OWL的海外擴張計畫將困難重重 - 鬥陣特攻

https://goo.gl/ZVceqT

In March, Overwatch League executives will return to the road.

三月，OWL的管理階層將重返戰場

A year after they began their initial roadshow that convinced 12 teams across
the U.S., Europe and Asia to pay $20 million each to join the league for its
inaugural season, the league now will search for expansion teams. The biggest
difference this time: The execs have a proven product to sell, and that means
more interested buyers.

在他們成功的說服了12隻支付了2000萬美元而入場了第一賽季的隊伍的一年後

他們接下來將積極擴張版圖

而這次最大的不同是，他們證明了自己推銷的是成熟的商品

也表示會吸引更多的買家

Throughout 2017, the Overwatch League had more naysayers than those
interested, with many of the former citing its lack of proof of concept and a
game without a rich esports history. The steep price, the chance of low
viewership and, as a result, the potential for little to no revenue drove
some of the most wealthy and famous buyers in the esports industry away. It
was impressive that the league recruited 12 in the first place.

整個2017年，看衰OWL的人比看好他的人還多很多

大部分人認為毫無先例與證明

沒有豐富的電競歷史，超貴的入場費，而且還很可能低收視率

想要以此帶來收入根本難如登天

這導致一部分在電競界比較出名的隊伍相繼退出

讓人印象深刻的是，OWL還是在第一賽季找到了12隻隊伍

In the past three months, though, the Overwatch League has exceeded its
revenue expectations, and several league sources said that the league is at
almost four times its original projection. The league got a reported $90
million, two-year Twitch deal, and its two-year deals with HP Omen and Intel
are worth $17 million and $10 million, respectively, sources said. That
doesn't even include its sponsors since its launch, which include the likes
of T-Mobile, Toyota and Sour Patch Kids, and those its teams have sold for
jersey patches and placements.

在過去三個月，OWL已經超出了預期的收入

幾個消息來源表示，收入幾乎是當初預期的四倍

OWL和Twitch的兩年約拿了9000萬美，HP Omen兩年1700萬美，Intel兩年1000萬美

這還沒算上T-mobile、Toyota，Sour Patch Kids等贊助商，還有隊衣補丁廣告的收益

The teams that put a collective $240 million on the table in franchise fees
to become Overwatch League owners might have their faith rewarded ahead of
schedule. The Overwatch League is en route to making big returns, too.

第一批總共出了2.4億美的老闆們很可能提前收到他們的回報

同時OWL也在積極的擴大收益

Its next challenge lies in incentivizing international buyers. Of its 12
teams, only one, the Shanghai Dragons, is owned by a foreign corporation. Its
other two teams abroad, the Seoul Dynasty and the London Spitfire, are both
owned by American-based organizations. While the league has said that it
hopes to target expansion in the European and Asian markets, recruiting
buyers there is much more difficult than domestically.

他們下一個挑戰是其他國家的買家

目前12隻隊伍，只有上海龍是真正由外國公司出資的隊伍

倫敦和首爾雖然掛海外城市，但其實還是由美國公司出資的

OWL曾經表示希望擴張全球版圖，但恐怕很困難

The Overwatch League will get more buyers in North America. It had a 13th
team right before the Season 1 deadline that it did not close in on Wesley
Edens, the co-owner of the Milwaukee Bucks and esports team FlyQuest, league
sources said. Edens is expected to be back at the negotiating table for 2019,
sources said. But if it can get another in mainland Europe -- whether that be
in Germany, France or Denmark -- and two more in Asia, that would be
sufficient. Finding those buyers, however, will be difficult.

OWL在北美有很多的買家

消息來源指出，第一賽季截止日前，他們有13隻隊伍

密爾瓦基公鹿隊和FlyQuest的共同老闆Wesley Edens很可能在明年重返戰場

但如果能在歐洲--無論德國，法國或是丹麥，然後在亞洲也能再來兩隻那就更完美了

但這恐怕很困難

The franchise fee for Season 2 expansion is not set yet, but Activision
Blizzard confirmed in an earnings call on Thursday that it will be higher
than Season 1; league sources expressed that they expect it will be in the
$35 million to $60 million range, at least $15 million more than for the
inaugural season. The league had trouble convincing European and Asian
entrepreneurs and corporations to bite at $20 million; $35 million to $60
million will be even harder.

第二季的入場費還沒有定案，但暴雪在周四的財報中已經肯定了一定會高於第一季

消息來源指出，這個數字預計在3500萬美~6000萬美之間

也就是說至少會比第一賽季多1500萬美以上

第一季2000萬美都很難說服亞洲人和歐洲人了

3500萬美更困難了

The core of that issue lies in how international investors look at these
opportunities. American capitalists, in particular, are very venture-heavy;
they are willing to spend and commit a significant amount of dollars in many
fields and see how it goes. If they lose, that's OK -- on to the next one.
But abroad, that is not the case, and it's been reflected that way in other
esports, such as the European League of Legends Championship Series. European
buyers want more security, assurance and history -- in other words, they want
traits that the Overwatch League does not have, even after Year 1.

主要是看各地區投資者如何看待風險

美國很願意在高風險的環境投入資金，輸了沒關係，咱來弄下一個

但國外並非如此，歐洲買家需要的是更多的安全感，更多的保證及歷史

The Overwatch League's most interested buyers in Europe could be American
investors who own international soccer teams. Those with previous interest in
esports include Fulham's Shad Khan, Crystal Palace's Harris Blitzer &
Entertainment and Liverpool's Fenway Sports Group. Although all of those have
soccer holdings in the U.K., there's doubt that the Overwatch player base is
dense enough to meet the market requirements for more than a single team in
that country. That presents yet another challenge as the league enters
expansion.

暴雪希望的歐洲買家可能是

在英超擁有Crystal Palace's這隻隊伍的的Harris Blitzer

還有擁有利物浦的芬威體育集團

但也有人在質疑OWL的隊伍密度是否會超出市場需求

The Overwatch League is a big ask, something non-American-owned soccer teams
in Europe and big-business investors stuck their nose up at ahead of Season
1, sources said. Has the reported revenue and the above-average viewership
and engagement changed that? Or will the European backers still be a struggle
for Activision Blizzard as it tries to spread its product across the world?
There's no firm answer, even as the buy-in at the Overwatch League table
rises.

The traditional esports investors in Asia are not incentivized to
participate, either.

OWL的最大問題是，還沒有辦法實際的去證明收入，收視，參與度等數字是否穩定

亞洲的投資者也並未被此吸引

In South Korea, many are product and service companies -- such as SK Telecom,
CJ Entus and KT Rolster -- that do not sell their byproducts outside of their
home region. A global league does not help business for those companies,
particularly given that they would need to create a completely separate brand
for the team unrelated to their brands, like OpTic Gaming needed to for the
Houston Outlaws per Blizzard's rules for the league.

Even though those companies have spent big in League of Legends, it's not
close to comparable to the operating cost per year that a geolocated
Overwatch League would require. And several have a sour taste in their mouths
after Activision Blizzard put an end to APEX, the premier Overwatch
tournament in South Korea, sources said

在南韓，如CJ，KT，他們並不需要在全球銷售自己的商品

搞全球化對他們來說根本沒有意義

雖然他們都有在搞LoL，但成本跟搞OWL隊伍差不多

而且因為搞OWL而收掉了APEX，某些人嘴巴可是酸酸der

China, where Overwatch has a massive player and fan base, poses a different
problem. Many of the likely buyers there present potential conflicts of
interest or do not have above-board histories in operations in other esports.
The Spitfire's parent, Cloud9, has an investment from FunPlus Ventures, one
of the new owners in the League of Legends Pro League. Others, like LGD
Gaming and Royal Never Give Up, have had scandal after scandal that stem from
their ownership groups.

中國雖然有很多俱樂部和選手，但彼此間的利益衝突會是問題

例如C9、LGD、RNG都有過一些不太好的新聞

All that is to say that each of the regions that Overwatch League hopes to
expand to and needs in order to make itself a true worldwide commodity has a
different set of hurdles that are only exacerbated by a rising cost to
ownership. No matter where executives go for a sales pitch, they will have to
account for those difficulties and sell not just Year 1 success but solutions
to those problems that will assuage doubt from potential buyers.

The Overwatch League, successful in Stage 1 or not, will need to find a new
model to sell itself if it wants to build international franchises. The pitch
that got its American buyers in the door, with or without proof of concept,
is not enough.


總之，暴雪想要全球化可不簡單，每個地區都有要解決的問題

除了在第一賽季交出漂亮的成績單以外還有很多的工作要做

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差不多意思就是每個國家出錢的想法不同拉

美國願意高風險高報酬

歐亞保守

目前雖然第一階段看起來超乎預期，但還沒有證明一整年，甚至接下來都能這樣

2000萬美進不來，你有試過3500萬美嗎

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