Activision Blizzard has appointed Johanna Faries as the Commissioner of Call of Duty Esports ahead of the title’s upcoming franchised league.
Faries will oversee the competitive side of Call of Duty after acting as Head of Call of Duty Esports for almost a year.
Prior to accepting a role at Activision Blizzard in 2018, Faries worked at National Football League (NFL) for almost 12 years. During her tenure at the league, she was responsible – at different times – for business development, sponsorship and sales, consumer products and retail marketing, and fan development.
In an announcement from Activision Blizzard, Faries discussed her change in roles: “During my initial phase on the job, my team’s focus was really on setting a new product vision for Call of Duty as a city-based franchised league and to design an experience that we believe can grow to become one of the biggest sports leagues on the planet. Now that we have begun to sell franchises to ownership groups all over the world, it’s less about going from a white sheet of paper to what we have shaped now, and more about operating and managing this competitive ecosystem in a best-in-class way.
“The role of Commissioner oversees all aspects of those dynamics and the key stakeholders involved in making the system go, so it’s a broader platform for management than where we were back in August when the focus was primarily internal-facing and design-driven.”
While not officially announced, the upcoming franchised league is believed to be named the Call of Duty League (CDL). At the time of writing, seven franchises have been announced for the competition. WISE Ventures owns Minnesota, Immortals Gaming Club owns Los Angeles, Atlanta Esports Ventures owns Atlanta, Envy Gaming owns Dallas, Sterling.VC owns New York, c0ntact Gaming owns Paris, and OverActive Media owns Toronto.
Esports Insider says: It’s hard to really judge Faries’ appointment in this role without the CDL getting underway but a few noteworthy people have already shared some positive words so that’s worth taking notice of. Her vast experience at NFL will undoubtedly help her as she undertakes this new challenge.
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