Popular eSports team 100 Thieves will not participate in the upcoming franchised Call of Duty Global League (CDL). OpTic’ s ex-pro player and current 100T’ s CEO, Matthew “Nadeshot” Haag, explained the decision in a video on Twitter.
The primary reason behind 100T’ s decision to not participating is the cost of a slot in the CDL. The cost of a slot should be around $25 million per team. Haag said,
“CDL is incredibly expensive…and we are just not equipped and not prepared to make that jump. For us to make such a costly investment in the Call of Duty (League) would possibly jeopardize everything that this company has been building. We just can’t take that risk right now…we’re a startup…we still a new company, and to make a financial commitment as large as this is impossible for us right now.”
It is with a very heavy heart we announce that 100 Thieves will not be participating in competitive Call of Duty in 2020. pic.twitter.com/cdJD9DdUvQ
— 100 Thieves (@100Thieves) August 29, 2019
The second motive why the Call of Duty Global League isn’t appealing to 100 Thieves is the Activision Blizzard’s policy. In fact, the policy is against having established esports organizations use existing branding for their CDL teams.
“100 Thieves is our brand, people put their blood, sweat, and tears in 100 Thieves. And with the CDL, there is a very good possibility that 100 Thieves will cease to exist in the way that we want it to.”
In order to participate in the Call of Duty Global League, teams also have to commit to a city by taking its name. As it happens in the Overwatch League. Haag continued,
“We are not prepared to put our flag in one place and say ‘this is our home.’ This is a worldwide brand…it’s something I want everyone to feel they are a part of it.”
The Call of Duty Global League didn’t lose only 100 Thieves
100 Thieves isn’t the only team that for one reason or another that won’t participate in the CDL. Indeed, Team Reciprocity announced days ago that the organization wouldn’t have a team in the league. Also, allegedly, Gen.G and Luminosity won’t be a part of the league, as well.
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