Call of Duty League, in the recent blog post by Call of Duty Esports’ General Manager, Daniel Tsay, announced that the league will make major structural changes from now on.
One of the most significant changes is eliminating franchise entry fees for teams. This change also includes the abolishment of outstanding fees and the refund of all payments made.
This move first came from OverActive Media, the company behind franchise team Toronto Ultra. They announced they had secured a new deal with Call of Duty League to eliminate all outstanding OAM (OverActive Media) entry fees, totalling approximately $35.1 million (US $25.5 million).
Adam Adamou, CEO of OverActive Media, said: “This model recognizes the key role that organizations like Toronto Ultra and our fans and partners have played in the expansion and growth of Call of Duty esports and maximizes our opportunities while retaining the critical elements that have made the Call of Duty League such an incredible product.”
Besides eliminating franchise entry fees, Call of Duty League will also give a two-year revenue guarantee for teams that invest in the league to secure their peace of mind. These are the complete changes from the community blog post from Call of Duty League:
- Outstanding entry fees will be eliminated, and any fees previously collected from teams will be returned in full. While we paused the collection of these payments years ago, we are permanently removing this obligation while injecting capital into the League.
- 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.
- Recognizing that hosting large-scale events is vital to teams and the CDL community, we will increase the existing event subsidy amounts for Teams organizing live, in-person events such as Majors, open, and Champs.
- Teams will receive a two-year minimum revenue guarantee to continue investing in the Call of Duty League with more peace of mind.
Call of Duty League popularity is experiencing its best season viewership-wise to date. The Stage 1 Major of Call of Duty League 2024 averaged 124.000 viewers, a 10.000 average viewer increase compared to its Stage 1 in 2023. This feat was made more impressive by the fact that they are eliminating Twitch viewership in favour of YouTube exclusivity.
It is interesting to see how CDL will improve with these new changes.
