Call of Duty League to stream exclusively on YouTube next year
After a successful year of viewership, which was paired with watch parties on Twitch, the Call of Duty League is making the switch exclusively to YouTube again. According to Jacob Hale on Twitter, YouTube is gaining exclusive rights to have the CDL streamed on their platform beginning in the 2023/24 season. The deal is expected to be for two years.
The 2022/23 CDL season began with matches being streamed solely on Twitch, with the addition of YouTube being brought into the mix later on in the season to help maximize overall viewership. Watch parties on Twitch, such as Scump and Zooma, have brought a whole new element to watching the CDL. This now becomes a massive question for fans and streamers.
The recent deal with YouTube seems to have caused mixed emotions from fans, with these looming questions surrounding watch parties and whether or not they will be able to be co-streamed on YouTube. More details on this should come out after Champs weekend concludes.
Many details could change and will be ironed out before the start of the next season, but with a meeting expected to be set between Activision and CDL Franchise Owners during the weekend of Champs, multiple sources have told Hale that the deal is all but done.
Outside of the length of the deal, the details are limited. We will update the story once more information is released.
Zack is the Publishing Manager for Esports Illustrated. He grew up playing videos as a kid, mainly sports games and the Call of Duty series. Before his work at Esports Illustrated, Zack published content for the NFL Draft for various sites since 2017, including partner sites on FanNation and has appeared on various shows across the country and videos across the FanNation group. Outside of work, Zack enjoys spending time with his wife and three children. He loves playing football and video games with his son, taking his two daughters to get their favorite treats, and binge-watching shows with his wife. Zack began covering Esports at the end of 2022, mainly covering the Call of Duty League.