By: Mike Hume
The new, yet-to-be-named Call of Duty esports league has officially capped its Season 1 membership at 12 teams and will begin play in teams’ home markets in 2020, furthering the Activision Blizzard vision of anchoring competitive gaming franchises to specific cities and regions.
The teams — based in Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas, Florida, London, Minnesota, New York, Paris, Seattle and Toronto, with two in Los Angeles — were sold via the same franchise model Activision Blizzard employed in its creation of the Overwatch League, which is now finishing its second season of competition. The Overwatch League (OWL) is also set to begin home-market play in 2020, the league’s first full season effort to tap into a new revenue source via local sponsors and business partnerships.
