The Aud transforms into esports venue for Call of Duty League Championships

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Call of Duty League Championships transforms The Aud on Day 1

Call of Duty League Championship kicks off in Kitchener

Kitchener ready to welcome Call of Duty tournament

First day of Call of Duty League Championships kicks off

The Kitchener Memorial Auditorium is undergoing a major change this week, getting ready for the Call of Duty League Championships from June 26 until June 29.

“This is the biggest event we’ve ever had,” Neil Duffy, Overactive Media’s Chief Commercial Officer of Americas said. “We’ve held four or five events now in Toronto. Always majors. This being the championship, we expected a bigger audience, and we got it.”

It’s the first time the four-day esports tournament has come to Canada. Overactive Media is hosting the event which will include a dozen Call of Duty (COD) League teams competing for a prize pool of $2 million US. The Toronto Ultra team, owned by Overactive Media, will be competing.

“I’m very excited to get it going,” Jamie “Insight” Craven, a player with Toronto Ultra, said. “This is the tournament everyone’s to play for, the one we all look forward to the end of the year. [I’m] excited to get in there and hopefully cement my legacy.”

Unlike a concert, the stage has been set up in the middle of the Dom Cardillo Arena, which allows more fans to fill the floor. Major technology upgrades have also been made to ensure the matches run smoothly.

“For being a historic venue like this? It’s pretty modern. It’s up to date. We’re having great access. The region has been tremendous,” Duffy said.

“I think the venue is great. At the end of the day, we’ve got to do what’s best for esport and get the best venue possible. Turns out it was in Kitchener. It doesn’t really phase me, I’m just excited to be here and get it going,” Craven said.

Organizers explored other venues but said The Aud fit the bill for capacity, and the Region of Waterloo’s enthusiasm for showcasing esports is the perfect fit.

“I feel like every year that I’ve been a part of it, it’s getting bigger and bigger and bigger and when I first joined the league, there wasn’t very many Canadian fans. Then over the years, it’s gradually just got more and more intense to the point now where we’re selling out venues with just pure Canadian fans,” Craven said.

Floor tickets are now sold out. As of Wednesday afternoon, there were still some bowl seats available. Organizers are expecting around 15,000 people to pass through the venue over the four days.

“Thursday, Friday, there’s still access. Saturday and Sunday is a little tighter, but I think we can squeeze people in right up until the match kicks off,” Duffy said.

Overactive Media has teams competing across eleven different titles worldwide. Duffy said this could be the beginning of a strong esports relationship with Waterloo Region.

“Call of Duty is our biggest [team] here in North America, but we also have a League of Legends team, a Valorant team, EA FC and beyond. I can see us coming back to Kitchener many times,” Duffy said.

Toronto Ultra has never won the championship. Craven feels this might be the year the team pulls it off.

“Especially me and my teammate. We’ve been doing this for a few years now, we’ve got close so many times. Hopefully we can get this one over the line,” Craven said.

The tournament starts on Thursday afternoon. The grand finals are set for Sunday.