Three new Call of Duty League franchise cities announced: London, Seattle, and Chicago
Activision Blizzard has announced three more cities that will be part of the Call of Duty League in 2020, which is set to begin with Call of Duty: Modern Warfare in the new year.
More details on the actual league are set to come later on, but the company is now announcing three more cities that will be part of the League ahead of the start. This brings the total to 12 teams.
The new teams announced today:
- London – owned by ReKTGlobal, parent company of Rogue Gaming
- Seattle – owned by Aquilini Group and Enthusiast Gaming, which is partnered with Luminosity Gaming
- Chicago – Owned by NRG, which is the owners of NBA basketball team Sacramento Kings. NRG also owns the San Francisco Shock OWL team
“We aspire for Call of Duty to be one of the biggest and best leagues on the planet. The addition of best-in-class organizations in Chicago, London, and Seattle is a strong step toward this ambition,” said Johanna Faries, Commissioner of Call of Duty Esports at Activision Blizzard Esports. “Alongside nine previously announced teams in Atlanta, Dallas, Florida, Los Angeles (2), Minnesota, New York, Paris, and Toronto, we are honored to partner with incredible organizations that share our commitment to delivering epic experiences for players and fans around the world.”
“NRG has loved Call of Duty and the competitive pro and amateur scene for a long time now,” NRG CEO, Andy Miller, said. “The formation of the new Call of Duty esports league provided the perfect opportunity for the org to jump in. The prospect of having Chicago written across our team’s chests was the icing on the cake. We hope to transfer our winning formula from the San Francisco Shock of the Overwatch League to the new Call of Duty esports league and our Chicago team.”
“On behalf of the entire ReKTGlobal organization, we are thrilled that we’ve landed the London team for Call of Duty,” said Amish Shah, founder of ReKTGlobal. “My co-founder, Dave Bialek, and I feel that some of the most enthusiastic esports fans are based in London and we are not only excited but welcome the challenge to represent the city, while gaining larger visibility and growing our brand within the UK.
“Our core UK team is eager to bring the championship home with the support of the community, their family and friends, and investors such as Steve Aoki, Imagine Dragons, Nicky Romero and DrLupo. We also have a number of surprises in store for the fans so get your popcorn ready and join us on our championship journey.”
Francesco Aquilini, Director of Aquilini Group: “Esports has shown extraordinary growth and we’re excited to continue to be at the forefront with a new Call of Duty esports team. We are thrilled with the performance of the Vancouver Titans in the Overwatch League in their inaugural season, and with the continued support and expertise of our partners at Luminosity and Enthusiast Gaming, we believe the new Call of Duty esports league is also well positioned for success. Along with the Titans, we look forward to continuing our engagement with the esports community in the Pacific Northwest with this new Seattle-based Call of Duty team, and delivering on our goal to create first-class fan experiences.”
These three teams join the previously announced 9 teams of New York, Toronto, Paris, Dallas, Atlanta, Los Angeles (Immortals), Los Angeles (Kroenke Esports), Florida and Minnesota.
The 2020 Call of Duty League is expected to adopt the Overwatch League format with home and away games, as players and teams will travel to the cities to compete during homestead style weekends for the new season.
Activision announced a few details on the 2020 Season, stating that it will be 5v5 and played on console. There will also be a pro and amateur leagues with Open Events still happening, but the details on that are still pending.
SOURCE: Activision
