The Call of Duty League revealed more details about its inaugural season on Friday, including the length of the CDL season and home-and-away format particulars.
It's been two months since eUnited took the crown in the final Call of Duty World League championship in August at Pauley Pavilion in Los Angeles.
At the time, the arena had an air of uncertainty about how professional Call of Duty would change as the league entered a franchise model. On Friday, CDL answered some of those questions.
The schedule will kick off in early 2020 with a 28-week season that includes a summer and spring split broken up by a midseason event. The year will culminate in a championship tournament, with the teams with the best win-loss records advancing to the postseason.
The inaugural season will also see teams traveling in a home and away system, with each team hosting two series in its home city in an arena of its choosing. Each team will host one home event in each split. There will be other league-hosted competitions and events throughout the year.
The CDL did not reveal how many matches would be held over the course of the season.
"There's still more to come in terms of how many teams will compete in each series at the team's home cities," said Johanna Faries, commissioner of the Call of Duty League. "What I can say is each home market will have the opportunity to showcase their host city team and a number of other teams."
Faries said teams will have agency in organizing home events, saying that while they will work closely with the CDL, the franchises will be behind the "where, when and how" of their home series.
Teams currently include Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas, Florida, two Los Angeles teams, Minnesota, New York, Paris, Seattle and Toronto. Some organizations have announced their official branding, while others have had some details leaked over the past few weeks.
"One thing that's cool is that multiple teams will compete across a multiday event," Faries said. "The efficiency that comes with that, for travel, it's built to give them a wide variety of experience at each event."
Next season will also be the debut of Call of Duty Challengers, the CDL's separate amateur league that's meant to highlight new and upcoming talent in competitive Call of Duty. Faries did not say whether each team would have its own academy roster or if amateur teams would be completely separate from the pro league teams.
"It's geared towards spotlighting who's up next," Faries said. "It's critically important to the health of the overall league. It's been a strong part of Call of Duty as an esport, one of the shining aspects of the game. In many ways, Challengers will function in ways that are similar to how it's been operated in recent years."
Challengers will function similarly to how the amateur league was run in 2019, with teams competing for their own prize pool in both open and closed bracket events throughout the year. However, amateur teams will no longer have the ability to play through the open bracket and compete against pro teams.
Various events throughout the season will play host to the Call of Duty League City Circuit, a competitive duos event that will allow fans to compete in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare's Gunfight mode. This new circuit, the Challengers amateur league and CDL play will all take place at the same events.
"We want to build one of the best and most beloved leagues in the world," Faries said. "The league stands on the shoulders of the fans. This is meant to encourage their involvement."