San Francisco Shock

On July 12, 2017, Overwatch developer Activision Blizzard officially announced that Andy Miller, chairman of the American esports organization NRG Esports, had acquired a San Francisco-based Overwatch League franchise spot for an estimated $20 million.[3][4] "The local aspect of the league was the biggest attraction [for purchasing the spot]," said Miller in an interview. "One of the biggest issues with esports, and also part of its charm, is that you can create a global audience. You can have fans all over the world. But it’s always become a big challenge for fans to actually see their favorite teams. You have to fly to a major event or a finals somewhere in a major city. And there was never a hometown team."[5]

On September 28, 2017, NRG Esports announced its official inaugural roster including of eight players and head coach Bradford Rajani.[6][7] A month later, on October 16, the franchise name was revealed as the San Francisco Shock.[8]

San Francisco Shocks first regular season OWL match was a 0–4 loss against the Los Angeles Valiant on January 10, 2018.[9] The team's first victory came two days later in a 3–1 win over the Shanghai Dragons.[10] The Shock did not find much success in the 2018 Overwatch League season; they finished with a 17–23 record and were 9th of 12th in the overall league standings.[11]

Looking to qualify for their first stage or season playoffs, the team made several roster additions in the preceding offseason of the 2019 season, including acquiring main tank Yoo "Smurf" Myeong-hwan from the Houston Outlaws academy team,[12] promoting Kim "Rascal" Dong-jun from their academy team NRG Esports,[13] signing Park "Viol2t" Min-ki from Korean Overwatch Contenders team O2 Ardeont,[14] and acquiring DPS Kwon "STRIKER" Nam-joo from the Boston Uprising.[15]

The Shock won the 2019 OWL Grand Finals.

The Shock's first match of the 2019 regular season resulted in a 4–0 sweep over the Dallas Fuel.[16] The team followed the win by splitting the next six matches to finish Stage 1 with a 4–3 record and the sixth seed in the Stage 1 Playoffs.[17] The team made it to the Stage 1 Finals, but they fell to the Titans.[18] San Francisco hit their stride in Stage 2, as the team completed the "perfect stage" with a 7–0 record and 28–0 map record.[19] Qualified as the top seed in the Stage 2 Playoffs, the Shock defeated the Titans in the Stage 2 Finals.[20] San Francisco dropped two matches in Stage 3, against the Houston Outlaws and Chengdu Hunters, and fell to the Shanghai Dragons in the Stage 3 Finals.[21] The team finished the regular season with seven straight wins to post a 23–5 record, the second best in the league, and the third seed in the season playoffs.[22] Jay "sinatraa" Won, Matthew "Super" DeLisi, Choi "ChoiHyoBin" Hyo-bin, and Grant "Moth" Espe were awarded the Role Star commendation for DPS, tank, tank, and support, respectively.[23] Both sinatraa and Super were nominated for the league's most valuable player award, which sinatraa won for his ability to flex onto a multitude of different heroes and hold his own as a championship team member.[24]

San Francisco faced the sixth-seeded Atlanta Reign in the first round of the season playoffs, but the team fell in a heartbreaking 3–4 loss to drop to the losers bracket.[25] The Shock responded to the loss by pulling off a dominant run in losers bracket; the team swept the London Spitfire in the first round, the Los Angeles Gladiators in the second round, the Hangzhou Spark in the third round, and the New York Excelsior in the losers finals to secure a spot in the Grand Finals.[26] The Shock swept the Titans 4–0 in the Grand Finals to claim the title of Overwatch League Champions.[27]

For the 2020 season, the Shock debuted new colors, trading the orange, grey, and gold color scheme that the team had used for two years in favor black and silver, with orange as an accent, as an homage to the Oakland Raiders.[28]

In the middle of the 2020 season, amid the release of Valorant, 2019 MVP Sinatraa decided to retire from the team to pursue a career in Valorant with Sentinels.