Mattamy Athletic Centre to host Toronto Ultra in the new Call of Duty League

TORONTO — OverActive Media has found another iconic Toronto home for its esports teams.

The Toronto Ultra will play its home matches in the new Call of Duty League at the Mattamy Athletic Centre ice rink, formerly Maple Leaf Gardens. OverActive Media had previously announced that Roy Thomson Hall would host the Toronto Defiant of the Overwatch League in 2020.

“A big part of the significance in playing in the Maple Leafs’ old home is the fact that ‘Call of Duty’ as a game title really crosses over with traditional sports and we’ve got lots of research that supports that,” Chris Overholt, OverActive Media’s president and CEO, said in an interview.

“Particularly basketball, funny enough. A lot of the basketball fans are big fans of ‘Call of Duty’ — and pro sports fans more generally. And as part of that strategy we’ve been actively out looking for marketing partners that think in those terms and then cross over nicely with ‘Call of Duty’ both from the traditional sports perspective and also from a pop culture perspective.”

The COD league has 10 franchises in North America (Atlanta Faze, Chicago Huntsmen, Dallas Empire, Florida Mutineers, Los Angeles Guerrillas, Optic Gaming Los Angeles, Minnesota Rokkr, New York Subliners, Seattle Surge and Toronto) and two in Europe (London Ravens and Paris Legion).

The Seattle team belongs to the Aquilini Group, owner of the NHL’s Vancouver Canucks and Overwatch League’s Vancouver Titans.

COD franchises reportedly went for US$25 million, although that number has not been confirmed.

Teams will compete in 5-on-5 “Call of Duty: Modern Warfare” multiplayer matches, on PlayStation 4.

A different team will play host to league action in its home city each week. The schedule is divided into spring and summer seasons, with the championship planned for August or September 2020.

The season starts Jan. 24-26 at the Minneapolis Armory with the Minnesota Rokkr serving as host. The Minneapolis franchise’s ownership group includes the Wilf family, who own the NFL Vikings.

Toronto will host Week 7 of the World Tour — March 21-22 — as well as July 18-19.

“We expect to host more dates in Toronto as our franchise grows and the strength of the league grows,” said Overholt.

The esports setup for the Mattamy Centre — home to the   Ryerson Rams hockey team — will feature some 2,500 seats, similar to Roy Thomson Hall. Overholt noted that 1,500 people showed up for the launch of the Ultra last month.

“We feel like we’ve got a lot of momentum going here,” he said.

OverActive Media acquired expertise in hosting esports events when it bought Toronto-based MediaXP in May, rebranding it as OAM Live.

Ultra tickets go on sale on Wednesday.

The Ultra’s 10-man roster includes Toronto’s Mehran (Mayhem) Anjomshoa along with players from the U.S., Spain, Denmark, England and Scotland.

The 2020 Overwatch League season, meanwhile, opens Feb. 8 in New York.

The Defiant roster, currently training in South Korea, includes Lane (Surefour) Roberts of Calgary, Liam (Mangachu) Campbell of Oakville, Ont., and Brady (Agilities) Girardi of Blairmore, Alta., as well as talent from Belgium, Denmark, South Korea, Sweden and the U.S.

The team previously had been dominated by South Korean talent in its inaugural 2019 season — the league’s second year.

The “Spring Siege” will see the Defiant play host to the Atlanta Reign and the Washington Justice on April 18-19. The Defiant then will entertain the New York Excelsior and Paris Eternal on Aug. 8-9 during “Summer Storm.”

The San Francisco Shock won the 2019 championship, defeating the Vancouver Titans 4–0 in September at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia.

“Overwatch” is a popular team-based first-person shooter developed by Blizzard Entertainment.

Headquartered in Toronto, OverActive Media also owns a League of Legends European Championship series franchise as well as Rochester’s Splyce Inc., which operates regional teams in various other esports, including Rocket League, Smite and Starcraft II.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 25, 2019.

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Neil Davidson, The Canadian Press