i3 - January/February 2020 - 38

By John Gaudiosi

Call of Duty League launches
in 2020, expanding on the
success of Overwatch League
ctivision Blizzard continues to invest heavily in its esports
division, taking a page from traditional sports leagues by
connecting its bestselling game brands like Call of Duty
and Overwatch with cities like London, Paris, Toronto
and Seattle.
The recent Overwatch League 2019 Grand Finals, held
at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, crowned the
San Francisco Shock champions with $1.1 million. The
tournament attracted 1.12 million viewers per minute across
multiple global platforms including Twitch and ABC Network
in the U.S. That marked a 16% increase over viewership of last
year's inaugural Grand Finals.
The league averaged 313,000 viewers weekly in the coveted
18-34 age demographic, which was up 11% over 2018. In addition to garnering more viewers week to week than traditional
sports organizations like Major League Soccer and Major
League Baseball, this audience growth was the only increase in
all the major sports leagues in 2019.
38

JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2020

Now Activision Blizzard Esports is following the Overwatch League blueprint
with Call of Duty World League (CWL),
which kicks off this year with five-vs-five
professional match play. The inaugural 12
teams include Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas,
Florida, London, Minnesota, New York,
Paris, Seattle, Toronto and two Los
Angeles squads.
Along with playing both home and
away games, each team in the league will
host two Home Series weekend events in
their respective markets: one in a spring
split and a second during a summer split.
Multiple pro teams will compete on Sony
PlayStation 4's at each Home Series
event, giving fans a range of must-see
competition throughout the weekend. In
between the spring and summer splits,
the league will host a special Call of Duty
League Midseason Weekend event where
all 12 teams will be featured in special allpro tournaments.
I T I S I N N O VAT I O N

Clockwise from top: Robert Paul for Blizzard Entertainment, Courtesy of Activision, Robert Paul (2).

DOUBLING D
ON ESPORTS



i3 - January/February 2020

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