Season 3 of Activision Blizzard’s Call of Duty League begins Friday with the Kickoff Classic on the heels of an offseason marked by radio silence from league officials as to the future of the competition – and now the pending sale of Activision to Microsoft. The Kickoff Classic will see all 12 teams competing on the Call of Duty YouTube channel. This year, two new teams enter the fray, as the former OpTic Chicago squad and Dallas Empire have merged to create OpTic Texas. The CDL’s last slot was sold to Boston Breach, a partnership by Oxygen Esports and The Kraft Group. The league will start the season with matches live on local area networks (LANs) with an audience in attendance, something about which fans and players are happy.
The league this year also tapped Adam Apicella and Esports Engine to be the production company putting together content and producing all of the league’s events. Activision had kept CDL production in-house during the first two seasons. Play starts at 4:00pm ET with the L.A. Guerrillas (owned by Kroenke Sports & Entertainment) taking on the Florida Mutineers.
| CALL OF DUTY TEAMS FOR '22 SEASON | |
| Atlanta FaZe | Minnesota ROKKR |
| Boston Breach | N.Y. Subliners |
| Florida Mutineers | OpTic Texas |
| London Royal Ravens | Paris Legion |
| L.A. Guerillas | Seattle Surge |
| L.A Thieves | Toronto Ultra |
