Activision Blizzard’s new city-based Call of Duty League will launch with a three-day tournament Jan. 24-26 in Minneapolis. The event will be hosted by the Minnesota Røkkr, which is the Call of Duty team owned by WISE Ventures.
WISE Ventures is the investment arm belonging to the Wilf family, who owns the NFL’s Minnesota Vikings. Media personality and entrepreneur Gary Vaynerchuk is also an investor in the Vikings’ esports team. The league’s opening event will take place at the Minneapolis Armory concert venue, where all 12 teams will compete. A prize pool of more than $6 million is at stake during the league’s inaugural season.
“We have been craving an esports event of this caliber in Minneapolis-St. Paul,” Jonathan Wilf, owner of the Vikings, said in a press release.
In addition to Minnesota, the league’s franchises are based in Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas, Florida, Seattle, Toronto, London, Paris, New York, and two clubs in Los Angeles. Teams will be competing in Activision's Call of Duty: Modern Warfare first-person shooter game that was released on Oct. 25. They will be playing on the PlayStation 4 console.
January’s launch event will also host the first Call of Duty Challengers Open, where amateur players from around the world can form teams and compete in a season-long series of online tournaments offering a $1 million prize pool.
Utah Jazz center Rudy Gobert is an investor in the London-based franchise that’s competing in the Call of Duty League.
