Call of Duty league adds 3 new franchises in London, Seattle, Chicago

Rebekah Drake • September 16, 01:58

Three new franchised teams have been formally announced as part of Activision Blizzard’s upcoming Call of Duty League.

The three new teams will represent the cities of London, Seattle, and Chicago.

The London franchise has been purchased by ReKTGlobal, owner of the Rogue esports organization.

“On behalf of the entire ReKTGlobal organization, we are thrilled that we’ve landed the London team for Call of Duty,” REKTGlobal founder and chairman Amish Shah said in a statement. “My co-founder, Dave Bialek, and I feel that some of the most enthusiastic esports fans are based in London and we are not only excited but welcome the challenge to represent the city, while gaining larger visibility and growing our brand within the UK.”

Rogue currently fields teams in Fortnite and Rocket League, but also owns a franchise in League of Legends’ European league, the LEC. Out of the three new franchise owners, they are the only company that does not also own a team in the Overwatch League.

NRG Esports are the owners of the Chicago-based franchise and also own the Overwatch League’s San Francisco Shock. The organization has a strong stable of talent in Fortnite and Apex Legends, but most notably fields one of the world’s best Counter-Strike: Global Offensive teams.

The final franchise location, Seattle, was purchased by the Aquilini Group and Enthusiast Gaming.

The Aquilini Group has a big presence in traditional sports courtesy of its ownership of the NHL’s Vancouver Canucks and branched out into esports by purchasing a franchise for the Overwatch League’s Vancouver Titans. Enthusiast Gaming is the parent company of Luminosity Gaming, a Canadian esports organization that has a strong history in Call of Duty esports. They also help operate the Titans.

With this announcement, there are now 12 confirmed teams for the Call of Duty League. The other nine teams will be based in Atlanta, Dallas, Florida, Minnesota, New York, Paris, and Toronto, as well as two different teams for Los Angeles.