As the video games industry continues to expand its esports segment, more and more people around the world are becoming esports enthusiasts. For any hardcore esports fan, one of the excitements of enjoying esports games and tournaments, aside from watching your favorite teams win, is the chaos of roster changes.
Most recently, North American esports titan Cloud9 — known for its teams competing in esports titles like Counter-Strike, DotA2, and Rocket League — is rumored to make a comeback into the Call of Duty League (CDL) scene by acquiring the New York Subliners. According to a report from Sheep Esports, the California-based organization is “in the process of entering into a partnership” with the defending Call of Duty Champs as part of its efforts to boost its presence in the Esports World Cup, held in July-August 2024.
Affectionately called C9 by fans across many esports titles, the esports organization initially parted ways with the CDL in 2017. Currently, C9 manages teams in 14 different games announced as part of the Esports World Cup 2024 lineup. While the New York Subliners had a lukewarm 2023 season and failed to take home Major titles, the team is rated in fourth place in the buildup to the CDL Major 4 tournament. Unfortunately, despite coming into the Esports World Cup as 2nd seeds from the CDL Championship, Cloud9 fell to old rivals OpTic Gaming in the Playoffs stage of the World Cup, placing the team at 5th-8th followed by Boston Breach, Toronto Ultra, and the Carolina Royal Ravens.
Cloud9, New York Subliners, and the future of Call of Duty esports
Despite Cloud9’s disappointing finish at the Call of Duty leg of the Esports World Cup, there’s still lots to anticipate for fans of the organization and the original New York-based roster. In a previous post, we highlighted how the proliferation of esports is much thanks to streaming platforms Twitch and YouTube, where esports games and tournaments are officially streamed. Today, esports viewership has followed similar growth patterns as its revenue, with more and more people watching competitive gaming events online.
The Call of Duty League 2024 Playoffs saw a peak of 283,100 viewers for the Grand Final between OpTic Texas and the NY Subliners pre-C9 acquisition. The competition also registered a total of four million hours watched and more than 128,800 average viewers over 31 hours of airtime. Another indicator of the CDL’s continued popularity is the amount of fans enjoying esports betting.
Given the Subliners’ recent lukewarm results in the CDL and at the World Cup under C9, fans of CoD betting and CoD esports, in general, will want to watch out for roster and team movements in the near future to better figure out odds for future games and tournaments. Fortunately, there’s still lots of time to adjust. Esports betting platform Thunderpick offers a variety of CoD odds, from fractional to decimal and American, across betting markets like Match and Map Winner as well as To Win At Least One Map, which can be a forgiving bet if you’re familiar with the Subliners’ strats and map pool.
Of course, knowing your roster is also essential for bettering your odds. Following C9’s poor finish at the World Cup, fans have anticipated crucial roster moves. This includes bringing in Dillon ‘Attach’ Price to join Subliner mainstay Sib. Attach had the fifth highest KD in the CDL during the 2024 season. In 2021, his team Minnesota RØKKR won a CDL: Major and finished fourth overall in the season. Understanding how Attach’s assault rifle mastery will play alongside Sib is important for gaining a better understanding of how C9’s return to the CDL will look like in future seasons.
Changes to the Call of Duty League
Finally, Cloud9’s surprising return to the CDL may have come just in time. In April 2024, Activision Blizzard announced plans for the Call of Duty League to offer better financial terms for esports teams in the name of sustainability. Sustainability and esports have led to much discourse in recent years, and may also have played a role in the New York Subliners’ decision to get acquired by Cloud9.
Daniel Tsay, general manager of the Call of Duty League described these league changes as moves that will make for a “stronger, more sustainable” CDL heading into the future. Previously, the CDL has provided financial relief during Covid-19 to fund player salaries and benefits, pausing franchise fee payments, and providing funding for team-hosted events. Tsay also spoke about the latest CDL season, which saw its highest viewership in history and record-breaking attendance at in-person events.
As Activision Blizzard continues to redouble efforts into making its esports scene more sustainable and built for longevity, it’ll be interesting to see how Cloud9 plays into these changes and whether we’ll see the ex-New York Subliners team achieve redemption in future CDL seasons.
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