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Activision Blizzard has announced the sale of new Call of Duty league franchises for London (ReKTGlobal), Chicago (NRG Esports), and Seattle (Aquilini Group and Enthusiast Gaming). Out of the three, ReKTGlobal is the only company to not already own a team in Activision Blizzard’s Overwatch League (OWL), in which Cloud9 runs a London-based franchise. NRG Esports and Aquilini Group each run the San Francisco Shock and Vancouver Titans, respectively, in the OWL.
Today’s announcement brings the total team count to 12, with other teams to be based in Atlanta, Dallas, Florida, two teams in Los Angeles, Minnesota, New York, Paris, and Toronto. It was also recently reported that president of the Zieben Group, Lee Zieben, had made a bid for a Houston slot in the league. All teams will host matches in their home market when the season begins next year.
Similar to the Overwatch League, teams will be required to sign additional players to the five who will play in any league match. Furthermore, each player must be contracted with a guaranteed salary of at least $50K, along with healthcare and retirement benefits. Teams must also award at least 50% of all prize winnings to players.
The Esports Observer will update this story as more information becomes available.
