2025 Call of Duty League Championship in Kitchener featured plenty of Black and Gold behind the scenes
KITCHENER, Ont. - The Warriors have taken over the Kitchener Memorial Auditorium in the past, most recently for battle of Waterloo showdowns on the ice.
This weekend, The Aud is playing host to the 2025 Call of Duty League Championship Weekend, Powered by Bell, and while the Warriors won't be competing, the Black and Gold will be well-represented.
The four-day tournament begins on Thursday, June 26 and runs through Sunday, June 29. It will feature eight teams including the hosts Toronto Ultra competing for the title of World Champions and a two-million-dollar prize.
The tournament is expected to draw over 20 thousand live spectators and millions of streaming viewers, and bring in over 14 million dollars in revenue to the local economy, according to Director of Sport Hosting for Explore Waterloo, Allister Scorgie.
This is the 13th edition of the annual tournament, which is among the largest Esports championships in the world. It is the first time the event will be hosted outside of the United States.
The success of the Waterloo Warriors Esports program was significant in bringing the tournament to the Waterloo region, revealed Greg Mittler, Coordinator, Esports and Gaming with the Department of Athletics and Recreation.
"Part of the bid process was speaking to the collegiate programs that we have in Waterloo," said Mittler citing the Conestoga Condors Esports program as well as the Warriors' own.
"One of the biggest things for the Warriors that exemplifies what we do is our staff model. We have developed a very strong staffing model where one out of five of our staff members have gone on to work in the gaming industry immediately after graduating. So, that speaks to the professionalism that our students bring."
The vast majority of volunteers at the championship weekend are members of the Warriors Esports staff. Mittler also played a supporting role in the organization of the event through his position as Co-Chair of the Waterloo Region E-Sports Commission.
Mittler also co-leads the University of Waterloo Interdisciplinary Network for Esports (UWIN Esports) along with Dr. Luke Potwarka, Associate Professor in the Department of Recreation and Leisure Studies, which aims "to strengthen esports-related scholarship, teaching/learning, and student experiences at the University of Waterloo."
UWIN Esports will be conducting a study on the impact of large Esports events led by Director of Research Dr. Kai Jiang with support from Dr. Michell Rutty.
"A lot of these events just look at the event impact in terms of economic impact to an area, and we want to have more depth to that," said Mittler.
"Dr. Potwarka's background has been around event hosting impacts. For example, when a group hosts the Olympic Games, how does that impact registration at a grassroots sports level in the area?"
Potwarka's work has also investigated how this relationship is affected by the host team's result. "For example, when Penny Oleksiak was killing it in the Olympics, what did swimming registration numbers look like for young kids back in her home country?"
The Toronto Ultra, for their part, are hoping to become the first non-American team to win the Call of Duty League Championship. The OverActive Media-owned team have finished on the podium in three of the last four tournaments, taking second place in 2021 and 2023, and third place last year.
"They're going for it. I think to win on home turf would be insane, and I think they're definitely in contention for the championship," said Anna Tian, Esports Coordinator with the Department of Athletics and Recreation and who'll be acting as a volunteer liaison this weekend.
Regardless, the event promises to be groundbreaking for Esports in Canada and an exciting development for the Waterloo region and all organizations.
Single-day and four-day passes are still on sale. The event can also be streamed live on the Call of Duty League's YouTube channel.