Hey Blizzard, Where's that OWL Players Union?

By: Bryce L. Jackson

As the 2019 season approaches and players are mostly all gathered in Burbank, one thing still remains absent: A bonafide players union.

Blizzard Ent. and the Overwatch League still have not created a players union and have not done much in the vein of transparency other than release a wordy Code of Conduct that cover the basics of competition, minimum salaries, and player behavior which serve to circumvent some topics found in Collective Bargaining Agreements of traditional pro sports and their respective player unions. However, there are no set rules on player well being, player rights, or anything of the sort. When it comes to issues like player health insurance, visa disputes, or roster disputes, that is left up to the individual teams to manage as they see fit.

Blizzard only steps in when its time to punish players or coaches and the punishment has not shown any consistency, i.e. Philadelphia Fusion Tank player Sado received a 30 game suspension last season for boosting, while this season multiple players have been suspended for no more than 2 games for the same infraction.

Then there was the issue of burn-out and players having mental health issues last season. Though Blizzard has addressed player burnout by extending the breaks between stages, future discussions of that magnitude should be negotiated via a representative of the players to OWL management like a players’ union would provide.

Finally, there was the offseason drama around the handling of the release of Boston Uprising players where they received no warning that their contracts would be terminated. Then there was the dumpster fire of the former Boston Uprising Overwatch Contenders team Toronto Esports who abruptly disbanded after they lacked a proactive plan for a rebrand after the introduction of the unaffiliated Toronto Defiant to the Overwatch League, leaving players and Uprising staff scrambling mere days before 2018 Contenders Season 3 was set to start.

Understandably, the league is still very young and traditional sports developed their unions many years after inception. Here is where they can buck trends and become more legitimate by allowing the existence of a Overwatch Esports Players’ Union that will represent the Overwatch League as well as Overwatch Contenders players. With the league heading to localization next year, it serves everyone best to form the organization now so that the foundation is there. With it in place, they can alter the template to abide by the rules of the different countries each team will reside in given the intricacies of foreign labor laws.

And rather it be in place now before the next league controversy sets in.