Boston Uprising is an American professional Overwatch esports team based in Boston, Massachusetts. The team competes in the Overwatch League as a member of the league's Atlantic North Division. Founded in 2017, Boston is one of the league's twelve founding teams. The team is owned by Robert Kraft of the Kraft Group, who also own Uprising Academy, an academy team for the Uprising that compete in Overwatch Contenders. Boston in 2018 became the first team in the history of the Overwatch League to go undefeated during a regular season stage, after going in Stage 3; while the team qualified for the season playoffs the same season, they were eliminated in the first round.
Franchise history
Beginnings
On July 12, 2017, Blizzard Entertainment officially announced that the Kraft Group had acquired the Boston-based franchise of the Overwatch League. On the decision to purchase the Esports franchise, Robert Kraft said in a statement, "We have been exploring the esports market for a number of years and have been waiting for the right opportunity to enter. The incredible global success of Overwatch since its launch, coupled with the League’s meticulous focus on a structure and strategy that clearly represents the future of esports made this the obvious entry point for the Kraft Group." In August 2017, the Kraft Group announced Chris "HuK" Loranger would be serving as and president of gaming for the franchise, where he would "oversee player acquisition, training, and daily operations". On October 25, 2017, the Uprising announced their full roster, consisting of eight players.
Early years: 2018–present
Boston Uprising's first regular season OWL match was a 1–3 loss to the New York Excelsior on January 11, 2018. After defeating the Los Angeles Gladiators on May 4, Boston became the first team to go undefeated in a stage, posting a perfect 10–0 record in Stage 3. However, the team lost in the Stage 3 finals to the New York Excelsior. The team also qualified for the Season Playoffs, but lost to the Philadelphia Fusion in the quarterfinals. The team finished their 2019 season with an 8–20 record – a far cry from their 26–14 record from 2018. A 3–2 victory over the Dallas Fuel in the final match of Stage 1 gave the Uprising a 4–3 record and qualified them for the Stage 1 Playoffs. However, they were eliminated in the quarterfinals after a 0–3 loss to the Vancouver Titans. Boston struggled to repeat the success they found in Stage 1, only winning four of their next fourteen matches before the implementation of an enforced 2-2-2 role lock by the league. The Uprising did not perform well under the new format, as a 0–4 loss to the Atlanta Reign on August 25 gave Boston a winless 0–7 Stage 4 record.
Team identity
On October 25, 2017, the franchise name was revealed as the Boston Uprising; the name "Uprising" was selected in honor of Boston's resilient forefathers and their legacy in the American Revolution which laid the foundation of the city. They also unveiled the team's logo and blue-yellow-black color scheme, with the latter drawing inspiration from the colors found in Boston's city flag. The logo is a shield surrounding a bold "B"—a letter that is synonymous with the city of Boston.
Sponsors
In late April 2018, the team revealed their first partnership, a shaving product sponsor, with Boston-based Gillette. The deal included a number of digital and social content initiatives, as well as having the Gillette logo featured on the team's practice jerseys and training facility. On October 31, 2018, the team added Bose as a sponsor, joining other Kraft-owned sports franchises and Boston teams supported by the Boston-based audio company.
On February 19, 2018, the Uprising announced a partnership with Toronto Esports Club's Overwatch Contenders team. In November 2018, following the unveiling of the Toronto Defiant in the Overwatch League, the league informed the Uprising they needed to change their name. Rather than change their name, the Toronto Esports team decided to pull out of Contenders completely, citing not only issues with the naming request but new changes in the Contenders format. According to their president Ryan Pallet, the organization was given a six-week notice to change their name. The Kraft organization still owns the rights to the players, coaches and the Contenders slot held by the team, which is officially competing under the name "Uprising Academy."
