CDL announces elimination and refund of $25 million team entry fees

The CDL has announced some major changes that will help teams grow and earn more revenue through team bundles, more events, and the elimination of entry fees.

Daniel Tsay, the General Manager of the Call of Duty League, announced on April 16 that the league is “redoubling efforts on the business side,” to continue the success of CoD esports.

To this end, all outstanding entry fees for teams have been eliminated, according to the announcement, and the previously collected feeds will be returned. The elimination of the estimated $25 million entry fee to play in the league was reportedly in the works as early as summer 2023.

Activision Blizzard waived the entry fee for its other major esports league, the Overwatch League, in 2023.

The company had already allowed teams to pause payments for both leagues in 2020 as neither could hold in-person events that would help organizations earn revenue to pay off the massive entry fees.

Activision Blizzard eventually paid OWL teams a small slice of their fees back when they voted to end the league in 2023. CDL teams, however, are getting all of the money they paid the developer returned to them.

The announcement also revealed that teams will get a “two-year minimum guarantee of revenue” from the league to continue investing in the ecosystem. Teams are also getting “increased revenue” from the sale of CDL in-game cosmetics and the Champs bundle too.

Lastly, Tsay said the league will also add more “existing event subsidy amounts” for teams putting on in-person events like Majors, Champs, and Open tournaments.

These changes come on the heels of the dissolution of OWL and a downturn in the esports industry that has seen many organizations tighten their belts when it comes to spending on player salaries and teams in general.

The League is also dealing with a lawsuit from one of its owners and star players. Those legal issues, however, have gone to arbitration.