Call of Duty League drops massive update, big win for competitive Call of Duty

The Call of Duty League has been on the back foot since it arrived in 2020. It’s not that the ideas weren’t good, but COVID really knocked them back and made the league re-evaluate how to move forward. Today’s announcement is a huge step in the right direction for the league, with a ton of investment from upstairs that will allow teams to thrive. Now if we can see expansion, we’ll keep trending up. After this, I’m hopeful. Check out the announcement from Call of Duty League General Manager Daniel Tsay below.

Hey everyone,

It’s been some time since my last Community Update. There has been lots of news and questions around the Call of Duty League recently and I wanted to share some significant updates.

Over the past five seasons, the Call of Duty League and its Teams have learned a great deal about the evolving business model of esports and its challenges. We have taken these learnings and together with our CDL teams, made changes to create a stronger, more sustainable league. In the past, the League implemented various solutions to alleviate some of the challenges for Teams. These include providing financial relief during COVID-19 to fund player salaries and benefits, pausing franchise fee payments, providing funding for team-hosted events, guaranteeing revenue to teams and creating in-game Team bundles.

While the Call of Duty League’s popularity continues to grow, evident by this past season where we saw the highest viewership in history and record-breaking attendance at our in-person events, we are redoubling efforts on the business side to ensure the success and longevity of competitive Call of Duty.

For the better part of a year, we’ve been working with Team Owners on a new approach that sets us up for mutual success. Today, I am excited to share details from our updated team deal structure to help secure the longevity of competitive Call of Duty:

1. Outstanding entry fees will be eliminated, and any fees previously collected from teams will be returned in full. While we paused collection of these payments years ago, we are permanently removing this obligation while also injecting capital back into the League.
2. Teams will earn increased revenue tied to the sale of their in-game merchandise (e.g., Team bundles) and now, the Champs bundle as well. We know how meaningful in-game bundles can be for Teams and we want to make sure they have increased ability to drive their own financial success.
3. Recognizing that hosting large scale events are vital to teams and the CDL community, we will increase existing event subsidy amounts for Teams organizing live in-person events such as Majors, Opens and Champs.
4. Teams will receive a two-year minimum guarantee of revenue so they can continue investing into the Call of Duty League with more peace of mind.

Esports is where many of Call of Duty’s community engage with the franchise and where players have the opportunity to turn their Call of Duty passion into professional careers, and we want to ensure we continue to build a thriving future for this audience. Our teams have a huge role in shaping that future and by investing more into them with these changes, we hope to continue propelling the CDL forward.

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I want to thank our Teams for the discussions we had to make these changes a reality and look forward to continuing that tight partnership. We know this is an ever-changing esports environment, but together with our Teams, we remain committed to delivering the ultimate fan experience to the CDL community.

Daniel

Stay tuned to GamingTrend for more Call of Duty League news and info!