Overwatch League betting: Understanding the OWL and how to bet on live games

Blizzard has shown great initiative for competitive esports, starting with their hit real-time strategy StarCraft 2 and slowly incorporating their other titles over the years. Overwatch League was a concept they introduced back in 2016, and since then the Overwatch esports has been booming.

Overwatch League - Tracer

The Overwatch League is an international league that’s focused on city-based teams. It shares some similarities to North American traditional sports leagues, but it has a regular season that concludes with the Playoffs. The regular season is usually segmented into several monthly tournament cycles, and each cycle has several weeks of qualifiers which determine the final tournament seeds.

We’d like to go over the Overwatch League tournament format, its structure and teams, and the best Overwatch League betting sites.

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Overwatch League Format

Overwatch League has entered into its fourth season. This year’s season has 20 international teams coming from 2 competing regions. The Overwatch League regular season has four monthly events in 2021, and those are:

  • May Melee
  • June Joust
  • Summer Showdown
  • Countdown Cup

During the regular season, the 20 teams will be split into the East and the West region. In the three weeks of qualifiers, the top six teams from the West and the top four teams from the East move into the Regional Knockouts.

overwatch esports game

During Regional Knockouts, the ten teams compete in a single elimination format and only the top two teams from each region qualify for the Tournament Weekend.

The four qualified teams fight in the Tournament Weekend, where the winner takes 3 league points, runner-up gets two, while the third spot gets one league point. Throughout the entire league, teams earn 1 league point for each win.

League Schedule

Here we’ll unveil the Overwatch League schedule so that fans of Overwatch League betting have an idea when and who they can bet on.

  1. May Melee April 16th – May 9th
  2. June Joust May 21st – June 13th
  3. Summer Showdown June 25th – July 18th
  4. Countdown Cup July 30th – August 22nd

ow-league-schedule-may

Let’s take a look at the teams

We’ll take a look at the teams competing in the Overwatch League and see who has the best odds of winning the tournaments.

Shanghai Dragons

The Chinese team is an Overwatch powerhouse, and they are one of the strongest teams in the Eastern region. They showed some great plays during May Melee, and even managed to land into the Tournament Weekend but finished 2nd.

In the past, they fought tooth and nail with some of the best teams in Overwatch League and were consistently in the top during every season. If you’re looking to do some Overwatch League betting, this is the team to keep an eye on.

ow-league-shanghai-dragons

Dallas Fuel

The team from Dallas have been the underdogs for the past severeal years in Overwatch League, striving to climb to the top but never actually making that dream a reality. However, season 4 could be the lucky break this squad has been looking for all this time.

They are the winners of May Melee, and the team they beat in the Grand Finals are none other than Shanghai Dragons. They barely made it through qualifiers, but something just clicked for this crew and they powered through to the very end.

When it comes to Overwatch League betting, this is also a team to pay attention to. Higher odds and higher risk, but an equally high pay-off.

ow-league-dallas-fuel

San Francisco Shock

The crew from San Francisco is leading the charge in the Western region. In the 2021 season they’re still hovering at the top, and we expect them to retain a high position throughout the year.

They should not be underestimated by any chance, as they’re one of the most successful professional teams in Overwatch. They are the 2019 and 2020 Overwatch League champions, and as such, they have the experience and skill that’s required to reach the top.

Although they had a slower start in the 2021 season, we expect great things from them.

ow-league-sf-shock-logo

Overwatch League Betting Sites

There’s plenty of options to choose from when it comes to Overwatch League betting, but in this case we’ll list some of the most popular ones so you can check them out.

GG.Bet

GG.Bet is by far the most popular betting site for bettors who enjoy betting on esports. They have some of the most competitive odds on the market, and a large selection of bets to choose from.

They constantly shower their users with generous bonuses, so it’s always a good time to get started. On top of that, their website is incredibly easy to use and navigate. Make sure to check out their live esports bets section to enjoy their incredible live streaming service while placing bets on your favorite Overwatch League teams.

Visit GG.Bet

Betway

If you’re a new user looking for Overwatch action, Betway is always a solid option to get your Overwatch League live betting off the ground as you look for experience and success. Betway offers an excellent eSports provision with great odds and even better incentives for new players.

Signing up with Betway is extremely user friendly and their incentives for matching your first bets without even putting down a deposit is impossible to pass up on. If you’re looking to dabble into some Overwatch betting and are curious as to where to get your start, Betway is always a solid option.

Visit Betway

Unikrn

Unikrn is also a great option for Overwatch League betting. They have some of the highest welcoming bonuses, and the amount varies depending on the country of residence. They also accept cryptocurrencies, so for everyone interested in cryptocurrency betting, this is the place to go.

Overall, Unikrn provides a great service and you’ll not be disappointed. Like GG.Bet, they provide a great live esports betting experience.

They are a bit restrictive when it comes to real money gambling, and it all depends whether you’re betting from a country where this bookmaker is licenced or not. Still, if you happen to be from one the non-licenced countries, you’ll have plenty of options to pick from with virtual currency betting.

Visit Unikrn

How to bet on the Overwatch League

It’s very easy to start betting on the Overwatch League. First of all, you’ll need to register an account on a betting site of your choice. We recommend the bookmakers we listed above.

Once you have registered on the website, the next step is to check out the current bonus the bookmaker is running. Almost every esports betting site will have some sort of deposit bonus for newcomers, so make sure to pick that up for some extra cash to get you started on your betting journey.

The final step is to simply check out the esports section and select Overwatch in the list of games. If there’s games being played in the Overwatch League, they’ll be listed there. Simply click on the team you’d like to bet on and you’re done.

Overwatch League History

Overwatch League was first revealed all the way back in 2016, and a year later they tested the waters with a 2017 Preseason event. The regular season began shortly after at the beginning of 2018, and back then there were only 12 teams competing.

London Spitfire was the team that won the event in 2018 and went home with a massive $1.000.000 prize. At the time, Overwatch League was still young and this was the team that ruled the scene.

However, once season 2 came, the power dynamics started shifting as more teams landed into the league. This time there were 20 teams and the competition was much more intense.

overwatch gaming

The team that emerged on top during this season, and the season that was to follow, was San Francisco Shock. The crew from San Francisco stole the show and won both season 2 and season 3.
They showed incredible performance in the regular season, consistently finishing at the very top. During Playoffs, they were simply on another level, taking confident wins and beating the opposition one by one.

Season 4 is looking a bit different, where San Francisco Shock are still in the top 5 teams in the ongoing regular season but we’re starting to see more underdog teams climbing higher. London Spitfire, a team once hailed as the best team in Overwatch League, is a shadow of what it used to be. They are placed last during season 4 May Melee. We’ll see if they’ll be able to recover in the future.

Watch Overwatch League Live!

If you wish to spectate your favorite Overwatch League matches, we’ve got you covered. Here’s a list of live streams where you can watch the best Overwatch action.

English  – https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCiAInBL9kUzz1XRxk66v-gw/live 

French – https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCI45pR3yMi0uGE47ewT43Ow/live

South Korea – https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCLGDwdJU3TQF34JgVAlvwBw/live

Brazil – https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCcOlGZMY19XQupKH4aigvkw/live

China – https://www.huya.com/660128

The Overwatch League is an incredible esports event, and it’s easy to tell how much passion and resources Blizzard is putting into it. With such incredible teams and a loyal fan base, the Overwatch League has a bright future ahead.

Of course, as long as there’s Overwatch League, there will be Overwatch League betting sites to offer their services to anyone who wishes to bet on their favorite esports event.