The latest season of Modern Warfare III esports concluded with the Call of Duty League Championship 2024. Although it didn’t quite match the 2023 season, it came close in viewership, becoming the second most-watched post-season event in Call of Duty League history. This finale, held at the Credit Union of Texas Event Center in Allen, Texas, from July 18 to 21, saw OpTic Texas triumph over the defending champions, New York Subliners, with a decisive 5:1 victory, thrilling the home fans.
OpTic Texas first title
OpTic Texas secured its first world title in four seasons and its second since 2020, earning $800,000 from a total prize pool of $2,000,000. The runner-up, New York Subliners, received $480,000, capping off another consistent year after winning the final Major of the season. However, they were bested by a revitalized OpTic Texas, who had ended their Major drought with a win in Major 3.
OpTic Texas also became the only team to win this version of the world championship twice. Having previously won under the Dallas Empire name in 2020. With Team Envy and OpTic Gaming, which merged in 2021 to form OpTic Texas, winning the Call of Duty World League Championship in 2016 and 2017, the new champions have solidified their status as the most successful franchise across different editions of the global event.
The Call of Duty League 2024 Playoffs peaked at 283.1K viewers during the Grand Final between OpTic Texas and New York Subliners. Their earlier clash in the Winners Final, which OpTic Texas narrowly won 3:2, was the second most popular match of the tournament. The playoffs recorded 4M Hours Watched and 128.8K Average Viewers over 31 hours of airtime, reflecting the high stakes and strong performances from prominent teams.
Atlanta FaZe, despite being one of the most consistent teams in the CDL and finishing at the top of every Regular Season, had a disappointing finale, not having won the world championship since 2021 or reached the Grand Final since 2022.
A key factor in the tournament’s success was the coverage by popular streamers Scump and ZooMaa Live, with Scump often drawing more viewers than the official channels. However, the return to YouTube-only broadcasts this season resulted in mixed viewership, unlike 2023 when events were also streamed on Twitch.
CDL 2024 Playoffs
The CDL 2024 Playoffs ended as the second most-watched world championship in the league’s current iteration, trailing the 2023 season by just 9.98%. It also became the third most popular Finals since 2020, boosted by the availability of beta codes for the upcoming Call of Duty: Black Ops 6.
Despite some Majors underperforming and a 29% dip in average viewership during the Regular Season, the season ended strongly. Fans can now look forward to other Call of Duty events. Such as the World Series of Warzone 2024 – Global Finals and the Call of Duty Mobile World Championship 2024, happening in August and October, respectively.