2020 Call of Duty League will feature 12 teams

❘ Published: 2019-09-25T16:48:47

Activision Blizzard has announced (via Washington Post) that the inaugural season of the 2020 Call of Duty League will feature a total of 12 teams.

Over the past few months, the company has been building out the new Call of Duty League and they have confirmed now that the 12 teams that have been announced are the teams that will be there for Season 1.

“Our goal for the future of Call of Duty Esports was to partner with ownership groups who are committed to bringing the next professional sports teams to their cities and building a community of home market fans. We have found those partners and the 2020 Call of Duty Esports League is officially locked with 12 teams,” said Bobby Kotick, Chief Executive Officer of Activision Blizzard. “We are proud to select the best 12 teams from 11 markets and four countries that will represent Call of Duty Esports and bring epically entertaining competition to millions of fans around the world.”

The company has yet to announce the details on the name of the League or when it will begin beyond saying early 2020.

Kotick confirmed that more than 12 teams were interested in the league, but they decided to cap it at 12 for the first season.

“We just like the symmetry, first of all, with how Overwatch League had done in its first year and we really wanted to focus on North America and Europe to start and really grow from there,” Johanna Faries, commissioner of the new Call of Duty league, said in a phone interview.

“I feel like it was a really nice blend and balance of operational know-how from an Overwatch League perspective, know-how from a Call of Duty esports perspective and then know-how from a traditional sports background,” said Faries.

Here’s the 12 teams in the Season for 2020:

Atlanta: @ATLCoD
Seattle: @SeattleCOD
London: @LondonCOD
Dallas: @COD_Dallas
Paris: @cod_paris
Florida: @Florida_COD
Toronto: @COD_Toronto
Minnesota: @COD_MN
New York: @CWL_NYC
Los Angeles Spot 1: @Immortals (LA)
Chicago: @Chicago_COD
Los Angeles Spot 2: Kroenke Sports

Many traditional Call of Duty teams will not have a spot in the League, including FaZe Clan and 100 Thieves. 100 Thieves’ CEO Nadeshot announced that their company did not want to invest into the League and have to create a new brand.

Stay tuned for the latest 2020 Call of Duty League news.