Call of Duty League
YouTube paid Activision Blizzard close to $160M for OWL, CDL for three years

The Esports Observer, citing sources familiar with the negotiations and contracts, states that the YouTube deal with Activision Blizzard to have Overwatch League, Call of Duty League, Hearthstone esports be exclusively streamed on YouTube is valued at $160M for three year deal.
Activision Blizzard announced prior to the start of the Call of Duty League that YouTube would be the exclusive streaming partner for the stream.
The Esports Observer reports that the OWL was the majority value of the deal, and CDL was lesser with Hearthstone behind it.
The report states that Overwatch League was worth a significant amount with Call of Duty League not that far behind. Esports Observer claims Activision Blizzard “threw in” Hearthstone esports as part of this deal.
The site states that the deal has a significant advantage for teams and league as it has money incentives for reaching certain targets, something which the original Overwatch League x Twitch deal did not. That was valued at $90M. The targets include ad sales and viewership numbers.
The deal was a partnership between Google and Activision Blizzard and also includes Google Cloud as the server provider for Activision Blizzard games.
SOURCE: Esports Observer

Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War
When does League Play arrive in Black Ops Cold War?
Black Ops Cold War’s League Play mode is coming soon, as confirmed by the official Call of Duty Twitter account.

League play is coming to Black Ops Cold War per an announcement from Treyarch. Here are the details.
League play has been a major request from the Call of Duty community and is coming to the game during Season 1. Confirmed via the official Call of Duty Twitter, we should now be seeing League Play in the coming weeks.
The mode is expected to drop before February 23, which is the last day of Season 1. A huge update is coming February 4, bringing a new Zombies map and remastered Multiplayer map, Express. Considering the large update is slated for release then, we could very well see League Play drop with it.
What is League Play?
League Play is a competitive playlist with an aggressive skill matching system. Players will compete in game modes with restrictions to weapons, perks, and attachments in line with the official Call of Duty League ruleset.
Game modes are also adjusted to custom rulesets, and maps are restricted to a custom map pool, voted on by the Call of Duty League professional players. This is the ultimate mode to play like the pros.

What to expect
If Black Ops Cold War’s League Play is a traditional Call of Duty League Play, we should be expecting several rank tiers, with a seasonal reset system. Each season, players should have a variety of ranks to progress through by winning games.
If Black Ops Cold War follows the Black Ops 4 formula, you will progress through skill ranks by obtaining gems from game wins. As you collect gems, your skill rank will increase. Black Ops 4’s league play was heavily debated amongst players due to it having a gem cap each day. Hopefully, Black Ops Cold War will change this system a bit if they choose to use it.

In the best-case scenario, we could also receive exclusive rewards for progressing through the league play ranks. This could be in the form of tiered character skins, weapon camos, or calling cards. This may be wishful thinking, but it is worth noting that Advanced Warfare’s ranked playlist did have custom exo-suits for the skill divisions, so it could very well happen in another Call of Duty game.
For now, we’ll have to wait for official communication from Treyarch for more info. Stay tuned.
Call of Duty League
Call of Duty League Opening Weekend & Kickoff Classic announced
Call of Duty League 2021’s opening events of the year have been confirmed, with the Kickoff Classic and Atlanta FaZe Home Series announced.

The Call of Duty League has officially confirmed the start date for the competition’s second season, announcing the Kickoff Classic in late January, and the Opening Weekend Home Series in February.
A new year means a new competitive season in Call of Duty, and after weeks of speculation, Activision Blizzard have finally confirmed details for Black Ops Cold War’s first two competitive events.
Coming off the back of a successful first season for the franchised competition, the Call of Duty League will host a celebratory pre-season event to mark the one year anniversary of 2020’s Minnesota event, before heading into proper league action two weeks later.
Call of Duty League Kickoff Classic
The CDL’s 2021 season gets underway on January 23-24, with a special pre-season event titled the Kickoff Classic. The special broadcast will celebrate the one year anniversary of the competition’s Launch Weekend in Minnesota.
Fans will have a major say in the match-ups we see at the Kickoff Classic, as avid CDL viewers can vote and choose the opponents of the top-three regular season teams to determine who they’ll square off against.

There are some tasty possible match-ups, with Clayster given the chance to face his former team Dallas Empire, while OpTic Chicago’s first match could be against the L.A Thieves. You can view all the options below.
- 2020 CDL Champions Dallas Empire: New York Subliners, Paris Legion, London Royal Ravens
- Atlanta FaZe: Florida Mutineers, Los Angeles Guerrillas, Seattle Surge
- OpTic Chicago (formerly Chicago Huntsmen): LA Thieves, Minnesota RØKKR, Toronto Ultra
Teams who don’t win their poll will still compete at the Kickoff Classic, so even if your favorite team doesn’t finish first in their poll, you’ll still see them in action.
CDL Atlanta FaZe Home Series Opening Weekend
Just three weeks later, the 2021 Call of Duty League will officially kick-off, with Atlanta FaZe set to host the Opening Weekend Home Series from February 11-14. Like most Home Series in 2020, the first event of the 2021 season will take place online.

During the Kickoff Classic, the CDL will feature a “unique Group Selection Draw Show,” which see a “special snake draft format [that] will allow teams to select the team that will be placed in its next-ranked opponents group.”
This means Dallas Empire will be able to select Atlanta FaZe’s first Group B opponent and will continue down the order of teams based on their 2020 CDL positions.
More details about the draw format and the Atlanta FaZe Home Series will be made available in the near future, along with additional season format details, the full 2021 schedule, and information about prizing.
Call of Duty League
Black Ops Cold War CDL rule set updated with Raid & tactical rifle bans
Treyarch has recently updated the CDL settings for Black Ops Cold War to reflect the most up to date ruleset.

The CDL ruleset for Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War has been updated on January 7 with the latest bans including on tactical rifles and an update to the map pool
The new CDL ruleset, released on the Call of Duty League website, has been shared as the start of the new season gets closer.
The new update replaces existing maps in the rotation with Raid, the new fan favorite remake that arrived in Season One in December. And, the CDL team has banned all Tactical Rifles from use in the CDL.
Here’s the updates, made on January 7 to the rules:
- Map & Modes List
- Hardpoint: Added Raid and removed Cartel
- Search & Destroy: Added Raid and removed Crossroads
- Control: Added Raid and removed Moscow
- Restricted Items
- Added Tactical Rifles:
- Type 63
- M16
- AUG
- DMR 14
- Added Tactical Rifles:
This update introduces the ban of all Tactical Rifles in the game (due to their high power and time to kill at range), while also adding Raid as a playable map to all gamemodes.
Since DLC maps in Black Ops Cold War are free, we may also see other remastered maps make it into the competitive ruleset. We’ll update you if there are any further changes.
Players interested in understanding the full rules in the Call of Duty League can see the competitive rule set on the CDL website.
Image Credits: Activision