Esports’ potential as a major force in live events has been highlighted by a leading figure quitting Live Nation-owned Voodoo Fest to become head of global live events for the new professional Overwatch League.
Voodoo Music + Arts Experience co-director Sig Greenebaum has joined video game developer Blizzard Entertainment to lead the development of Overwatch League.
Blizzard is a subsidiary of video game giant Activision, whose Overwatch first-person shooter game has attracted more than 30 million players since it was released last year.
According to New Orleans news site the Advocate, Greenebaum said: “To leave at this point is very difficult.” He described the Blizzard post as an “incredible job offer”.
City-based esports teams
It is expected co-director Don Kelly will take on many of Greenebaum’s responsibilities ahead of the event, which takes place in New Orleans in October. The upcoming 2017 Voodoo will be headlined by acts including the Foo Fighters and the Killers. The festival, which has attracted more than one million spectators since it was founded in 1999, was acquired by Live Nation in 2013 and is produced by C3 Presents.
Blizzard unveiled plans for a global Overwatch League featuring city-based teams late last year. Despite aiming for launch in Q3 2017, it now seems certain that Overwatch League will begin next year.
It is believed that the billionaire owners of NFL teams New England Patriots and LA Rams, Robert Kraft and Stan Kroenke respectively, could be among those to run franchises in the Overwatch League.
Image: BagoGames
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