Overwatch League team Philadelphia Fusion “rebrand” to Seoul Infernal for 2023 in shocking move
Today, the Philadelphia Fusion of the Overwatch League announced plans to rebrand themselves in the new year as the Seoul Infernal and relocate to South Korea. The move shocked many, as the organization broke ground on a state of the art e-sports complex in South Philly back in 2019.
Philadelphia Fusion’s Twitter account shared the news:
PHILADELPHIA (December 30, 2022) – Today, Overwatch League™ team Philadelphia Fusion announced plans to rebrand itself in the new year as the Seoul Infernal and relocate to South Korea, where the team has been operating for the past two years. The team, founded in 2017, initially moved operations to South Korea at the onset of the COVID pandemic in early 2020 in close coordination with Overwatch League officials.
“As we gear up for next season, we’ve been evaluating how we can best compete at a consistent, championship level, and we’ve realized that our franchise will be best positioned to succeed in Seoul,” said Dave Scott, President and CEO of Comcast Spectacor, which owns the Infernal franchise. “We’re excited to begin this next chapter as the Seoul Infernal, and our team is proud to represent our current and future fans on the global stage.”
This transition will build on Comcast Spectacor’s co-ownership of T1, the 3x League of Legends World Champions and 2022 Runners up, which is owned and operated in partnership with SK Square and is already based in Seoul. Under the leadership of Scott, T1 CEO Joe Marsh, and President of Spectacor Gaming, Tucker Roberts, T1 has become a globally recognized esports leader, and this move will provide the Infernal access to the world-class facilities and a strong talent pipeline already in place at T1 headquarters in Seoul.
The Infernal name and branding will also reflect the team’s new home in Seoul as well as the esports pedigree of our team and its sister team, T1. With the change, the team will unveil fresh logos, new jerseys and more for current and future Infernal team members and fans.
The team will maintain the same ownership, management, and roster of currently signed players while new additions will be brought on to build out the team. The Overwatch League regular season will start in Spring 2023 and finals will follow in the Fall. For more information on the Overwatch League, visit overwatchleague.com.
I know most people in Philadelphia didn’t even know we had an Overwatch team, and that’s okay. I honestly forgot until I saw the news.
The main reason I wanted to blog about this is the way they announced this. Calling this a “rebrand” is potentially the biggest understatement of the century.
A rebrand is when you get a new name or a new logo. Philadelphia Fusion are changing their name and moving from Philly to Korea. That’s not a rebrand, that’s called fleeing the country.
Regardless, becoming Seoul Inferno is the right move.
This may feel a little bit like Comcast Spectacor pulling an Art Modell, but it was a good business decision. Seoul is a massive e-sports market. If LA and New York have two football and basketball teams, it makes sense for Seoul to double up on Overwatch squads.
Obviously, it pains me to say how Comcast made a right organizational move, but if there’s one thing about them, they know where the money is. Hopefully they’ll figure that out with the Flyers and either sell the team or just move it to Korea. Either way, it’d be better than what we’ve got at the moment.
At any rate, it looks like it’s time to say goodbye to Philadelphia’s most beloved franchise.
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Mandatory Credit: Comcast Spectacor
