The Dallas Fuel and the Houston Outlaws may have just played their first rivalry match of 2020, but it certainly won’t be their last. The two organizations have announced the Lone Star Showdown, a three-week TV docuseries dedicated to bringing the talent of the two teams to the small screen. The series, which airs on May 4, will go behind the scenes with both teams. The objective is to show both its TV audience and its online viewers what it’s really like to be an esports pro. The two teams will participate in a series of challenges, culminating in a best-of-seven match to prove once and for all which is the better Overwatch team in the state.
Bringing Overwatch to the Small Screen…and the Smaller Screen
TEGNA Inc. serves as the official broadcast partner of the Lone Star Showdown. The company operates twelve TV stations serving nearly 87% of Texas residents. The Fuel and the Outlaws will also broadcast the series on their YouTube channels. Television broadcasts will also include extra features on how the Overwatch League continues to reach new audiences. Casters Jake Lyon and Mitch “Uber” Leslie will host all the challenges and the final match.
In an official statement released yesterday, Envy CEO Mike Rufail said this: “Texas is truly a hotbed for esports. Dallas was the first esports team to host a home match and now we’re teaming up with Houston for another esports first: launching a multi-platform, statewide challenge series. It’s only fitting that Texas would take esports rivalries to the next level.”
Crosstown Connections
The Lone Star Showdown takes its name from a historical rivalry of the same name. The University of Texas and the Texas A&M University have competed in traditional men’s and women’s varsity sports as far back as 1894. Texas fans informally coined “the Lone Star Showdown” to refer to the rivalry games until the universities trademarked the term in 1996.
More information about the Lone Star Showdown can be found on websites for both the Dallas Fuel and the Houston Outlaws.