FaZe Clan co-owns Call of Duty League franchise Atlanta FaZe

In a recent Esports Insider interview with Atlanta Esports Ventures president and CEO, Paul Hamilton revealed that FaZe Clan does co-own the franchise. 

There was a lot of speculation revolving around the Call of Duty League franchise, with many wondering what sort of partnership led to the name and logo. In retrospect now, it was kind of obvious, but there aren't any certainties regarding the ever-evolving esports industry. 

Hamilton went on to explain that he and FaZe CEO Lee Trink were introduced by a common friend, which led to eight months of talks that later involved the idea of owning a Call of Duty League franchise. In his words, "We knew that we wanted to be part of the Call of Duty League whenever that came about."

There's always been the belief that league franchise names had to be exclusive to it, but Atlanta FaZe certainly isn't. Hamilton didn't go into specifics about how they managed to get the name approved by Activision Blizzard. Still, he did say that they worked on the branding together for many months before finalizing what it is today. 

Image credit: Atlanta FaZe

The Call of Duty League franchise names leaked ahead of their official announcements, but unlike most, Hamilton was not troubled by it. Instead, it made him glad, because the effort put into finding the leaks meant that there was a lot of interest in the League, which is undoubtedly a good thing. 

Call of Duty has been a mid-tier esport for a long time now. When asked whether he was hesitant to own a franchise because of this fact, Hamilton said he wasn't. Apart from being a fan, he also stated that he sees the 12 franchises as pioneers that will help the Call of Duty League achieve its full potential as one of the strongest gaming brands out there. 

"I didn’t have any hesitation about it at all. It’s an amazing game, and I think it’s going to explode. It’s going to be an amazing first season, and I think you’re going to see a lot of growth from there. We hope that we’re right, and we can bring this thing to a much bigger audience," said Hamilton. 

With all 12 franchise's out in the open and the inaugural season's launch announced as January 24-26 at the Minneapolis Armory, all that's left is to fan the flames of hype. The Call of Duty League Launch Weekend should make for an exciting start to the 2020 esports calendar.