With the 2020 Call of Duty League season almost to the finish line, it’s time to talk about the Playoffs and Championship Weekend. Today we’re revealing how and when we’ll crown the first-ever Call of Duty League champion.
The Playoffs officially kick off with a doubleheader on Wednesday, August 19, at 12 p.m. ET/3 p.m. PT. Over the next four days, we’ll play down to the final four teams that will advance to compete during Championship Weekend on August 29-30.
To begin the Playoffs, teams will be placed into a Winner’s Bracket and an Elimination Bracket based on their seeding (as determined by their CDL Points in the league standings). The top 8 seeds start in the Winner’s Bracket, while the remaining bottom seeds begin in the Elimination Bracket. Teams that lose in the Winner’s Bracket will drop into the Elimination Bracket. Any team that loses a match in the Elimination Bracket is out of the tournament.
The 2020 Call of Duty League champion will take home the championship trophy and the lion’s share of the US $4.6 million playoffs prize pool.
All matches will be played online and broadcast live and on demand on our YouTube channel and the Call of Duty League website.
Match Format & Map Order
Playoffs
All matches are best-of-5
- Map 1—Hardpoint
- Map 2—Search and Destroy
- Map 3—Domination
- Map 4—Hardpoint
- Map 5— Search and Destroy
Finals
Best-of-9 with team from Winner’s Bracket starting match up 1-0
- Map 1—Hardpoint
- Map 2—Search and Destroy
- Map 3—Domination
- Map 4—Hardpoint
- Map 5— Search and Destroy
- Map 6—Domination
- Map 7—Hardpoint
- Map 8—Search and Destroy
Playoffs Prizing
In collaboration with our teams and players, we have recently redistributed the prize pool. The updated payout structure better rewards teams that perform well during the Playoffs while assigning less prize money for the final matches. The overall prize payout of $4,600,000 remains the same. Here’s how it breaks down:
- League Champion—$1.5 million
- Runner-up—$900,000
- 3rd place—$600,000
- 4th place—$450,000
- 5th place—$300,000 (2 teams)
- 7th place—$175,000 (2 teams)
- 9th place—$100,000 (2 teams)
Challengers and City Circuit
With over $500,000 at stake, the Challengers Finals for NA, EU, and APAC are scheduled for August 15-16.
The City Circuit tournament featuring fan duos representing CDL franchises will start bracket play on August 22 and conclude with the final at Championship Weekend on August 29.
