【Japan】

The Japaniconic Chinese Theatre in Hollywood is preparing to host esports events and tournaments in partnership with an esports team organization. That means Los Angeles will have a new hometown team: The Hollywood Hammers.

The partnership between the TCL Chinese Theatre and esports organization Hammers Esports is called Hollywood Esports. They'll organize and run esports events at the Chinese Theatre as well as manage the Hollywood Hammers players competing in Overwatch, Clash Royale, and Vainglory. Now that the team has a venue to call home, the Hollywood Hammers are becoming one of the first esports organizations to lay claim to a city with the hope of building a local following.

There are currently no leagues or tournaments in esports where teams tied to cities compete against each other in their local venues because almost no teams are tied to cities or local venues. Blizzard's upcoming OverwatchLeague intends to build a league like this, but the announcement of the Hollywood Hammers doesn't mention them (or any other league, for that matter).

Robert K. Laity, CEO of the TCL Chinese Theatre, is an advocate for this kind of city connection in the hopes that it will inspire team followings and fandom like traditional sports teams do.

"The esports world deserves a local fan base in addition to a global following in much the same way that other sports like basketball, football, and baseball have strong and close affiliations with fans in major cities across the U.S.," he said. "Los Angeles now has its newest team to follow and support."

The announcement specifically included a line about the Hollywood Hammers looking forward to having celebrities become supporters.

A handful of esports teams are already headquartered in Los Angeles or have teams living in the area -- SK Gaming, Cloud9, Team SoloMid, and Echo Fox among them -- but the Hollywood Hammers are the first to call themselves a hometown team.

Hammers Esports CEO King Perez De Tagle said in a statement that the team is blazing the trail for esports teams with a local tie.

"The Hammers organization looks to lead the trend of esports teams being more accessible and connected to local fans," he said.

On top of wanting to build a local following, Perez De Tagle said that the organization is welcoming teams to challenge them and compete against them at the Chinese Theatre.

Nothing like this has really been done before in esports, and there's no reason to believe that any legitimate team would take them up on that offer unless Hollywood Esports puts up a cash prize or some other incentive. It'd be like a basketball team (that isn't in the NBA) challenging any team to come play them on their court.

The announcement includes a line about Hollywood Esports organizing a tournament schedule featuring local college teams and gamers, but it doesn't specifically say whether or not the Hollywood Hammers will be competing in these events.

Hollywood Esports has ambitious plans for its esports viewing experiences, too, including building theaters across the country with "4D motion and special effects making the on-screen action even more exciting."