Beer Giant Latest to Sign on Activision's Overwatch League

(Bloomberg) -- Overwatch League, the competitive video game endeavor that modeled itself after leagues such as the NFL and NBA, just landed another major sponsor from the traditional sports world.

Anheuser-Busch InBev SA, one of the most active sponsors in both the National Football League and the National Basketball Association, will become the official beer sponsor of the Overwatch League. Terms of the partnership, which begins this weekend, weren’t announced.

Unlike traditional sports leagues, which make a bulk of their money from media rights and ticket sales, sponsorship remains a major source of income for esports teams and leagues. Anheuser-Busch joins a growing list of Overwatch League partners, including Coca-Cola Co., Toyota Motor Corp., T-Mobile US Inc., Intel Corp. and HP Inc.

Started by Activision Blizzard Inc. in 2017, the league is now in the middle of its second season. Next year, its teams will leave Los Angeles and set up in cities across the globe, including New York, Paris and Shanghai.

To contact the reporter on this story: Eben Novy-Williams in New York at enovywilliam@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Nick Turner at nturner7@bloomberg.net, Linus Chua, Virginia Van Natta

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