When you think of the worst losing streaks in sports history you may think of teams like the Cleveland Browns from the NFL or the 2009 Cleveland Cavaliers after losing Lebron James. In the realm of esports the worst losing streak, in an over 30-year history across multiple titles, belongs to the Shanghai Dragons from the Overwatch League. The Overwatch League is an esports franchised league started in February 2018 by Blizzard Entertainment. The inaugural season featured 12 teams representing cities from 4 countries with the Shanghai Dragons being the sole representatives of China. Bad management and poor preparations led the Dragons to an eventual 0 – 42 record over the next year.

A Team Destined to Fail

The problems for the Dragons started before the season even began. The Overwatch League is a franchised league like many of the major sports leagues like the NBA and NFL. This means that companies purchase and own their individual spot in the league. They are responsible for managing the team, recruiting the player, and forming a winning team. Chinese IT company NetEase formed the Shanghai Dragons who, unlike most other teams who purchased league spots, did not have any previous esports experience.

The strongest Overwatch players before the formation of the League were located in South Korea, North America, and Europe. Teams were able to recruit players from any region, but NetEase chose an entirely Chinese team featuring none of the top players from China. This put the Dragons several tiers behind the other teams in the league. Even after making roster additions throughout the season, the team could never catch up to the level of the rest of the league and ended the season 0 – 40.

A New Season and the Winning Moment

The 2^nd Season of the Overwatch League started after a 6-month off-season and introduced 8 new teams to the league. To prepare for the season the Dragons picked up a new team of rising Korean stars. Analysts even predicted that the team would be a strong team on the upper half of the league. The team had a rough first week but faced some of the strongest teams in the league, so they were expected to bounce back in week two. Fans did not stop worrying however as the Dragons fell to 0 – 42.

Week 2 started and on February 22^nd the Dragons faced the Boston Uprising. After settling into the new season, the Dragons finally showed their strength by convincingly taking the first two maps in the series. This meant the Dragons had 3 chances to end the series for the first time since the Overwatch League started. It would only take the Dragons one map, however, a grueling 25-minute game that ended with the Dragons earning their first match win of the Overwatch League.

The Blizzard Arena erupted as the Dragons won their first match. It’s important to note that all games are held within the Blizzard Arena. This means that fans who go the arena often root for multiple teams, unlike traditional sports. The Dragons hugged to celebrate their first victory as the entire arena stood to cheer them on. Some even cried as the ultimate underdog story in esports came to an end. The longest losing streak in sports history finally ended at 1 – 42. Since that fateful day, the Shanghai Dragons are now sitting at 3 – 4 and showing improvement with every game they play.