The first Major of the 2025 Call of Duty League (CDL) is set to take place later today (January 30th) in Madrid, Spain.
Ahead of the event, Esports Insider has created a brief guide to everything there is to know about the CDL 2025 Major 1 and its wider impact on the Call of Duty esports ecosystem.
Major 1 is the first of five LAN events taking place on the Call of Duty League calendar and sees all 12 franchises competing on the stage for a chance to earn CDL Points and a share of the prize money.
Call of Duty League 2025 Major 1 format explained
All 12 franchises have been placed in a double-elimination bracket based on seeding determined during three weeks of online qualifiers and a Minor tournament.
The top eight teams begin the tournament in the winner’s bracket while the bottom four are placed in the elimination bracket.
Each match will use the V1.2 ruleset developed by the Call of Duty League and representatives from each franchise.
The event will use a best-of-five (BO5) format up until the Grand Finals where a best-of-seven (BO7) will determine the eventual winner.
Unlike previous years, the Call of Duty League hasn’t revealed the total prize pool for Major 1 2025. The opening event of the 2024 CDL season featured a prize pool of $375,000 (~£301,563).
The top eight teams will earn CDL Points that will be used to determine seeding for the second Major of the season taking place in Allen, Texas.
How to watch Call of Duty League 2025 Major 1
You can watch all of the action from Major 1 on the official Call of Duty League YouTube channel. Thanks to an exclusivity deal between the platform and the league, all matches are broadcast exclusively on YouTube.
The first matches get underway on January 30th with the tournament concluding on February 2nd. The first match of the day will begin at 3 PM GMT.
The Grand Final is scheduled to take place on February 2nd at 7.30 PM GMT.
Teams to watch
After a turbulent start to the 2025 season, fan-favourites OpTic Texas are the top seed heading into the opening Major of Call of Duty: Black Ops 6.
In December 2024, the franchise revealed Amer ‘Pred Zulbeari left the team resulting in the return of Cuyler ‘Huke’ Garland to the starting lineup.
Another team that struggled to begin the season on the front foot was two-time CDL champions Atlanta FaZe. After ending the online qualifiers in sixth place, the team managed to win the CDL’s inaugural Minor tournament earning enough points to avoid starting in the elimination bracket.
The Carolina Royal Ravens were the early frontrunners during the online qualifiers. Achieving a second-place finish in the Minor cemented the franchise as the third seed. Moreover, all eyes will be on Toronto Ultra, which is the official host of the first CDL Major event of 2025.
Despite being based in Canada, Toronto Ultra is owned by OverActive Media, a company that has popular Spanish organisation Movistar KOI in its portfolio.
