First Five Call of Duty Franchise Cities Announced
By Nicholas Barth ·
Activision revealed on Thursday, May 2nd the first five franchise cities that will be competing in the new city-based Call of Duty league.
Call of Duty publisher Activision had confirmed back in February that it would be launching a city-based franchised league for the esports scene of the popular first-person shooter franchise in the same manner that it had done for the Overwatch League. Despite the city-based franchised Call of Duty league having named its commissioner, there has not been too much information regarding what cities would choose to have a franchise in this brand new esports league. However, Thursday, May 2nd saw Activision announce which cities and organizations have purchased the first five franchise spots for the city-based Call of Duty esports league.
Call of Duty Franchise Spots
According to Call of Duty media outlet Charlie Intel, Activision confirmed in its 2019 first-quarter earnings report that it had sold the first five spots for the new city-based league to current owners of Overwatch League teams. You can find the organizations and cities that have secured a spot below.
- Atlanta - Atlanta Esports Ventures
- Dallas - Team Envy
- New York - Sterling VC
- Paris - c0ntact Gaming, LLC
- Toronto - OverActive Media, Splyce
With the cost of a spot in the new city-based Call of Duty esports league having been reported to be $25,000,000, the selling of these five Call of Duty franchise spots has already netted Activision over $100,000,000, and there will no doubt be many more organizations looking to secure a spot for their own teams. It will not be surprising to see a multitude of owners from the Overwatch League looking to follow in the footsteps of the first five franchise owners for the new Call of Duty league.
It was also confirmed that the price for a franchise spot in the new Call of Duty esports league was much higher than the initial price for a spot in the Overwatch League. This looks to be a result of the success that Activision and Blizzard have seen with their first venture in this model and having a strong portfolio of its positives.
However, due to the yearly release cycle of a brand new title in the first-person shooter franchise, it remains to be seen how the city-based franchise Call of Duty league will operate year-to-year when other franchised esports leagues utilize the same base game for years on end. Will this evolution of the franchise's esports scene push for an entry in the franchise that lasts for more than one year? We will have to wait to see how this new model for the popular esports scene will affect the industry at large when it is expected to begin with the next entry in the series next year.