The Call of Duty League shattered its all-time peak viewership record during the 2025 CDL Championship, as fans tuned in en masse to watch OpTic Texas defend their world title in dominant fashion. The grand final between OpTic and Vancouver Surge reached a staggering number of concurrent viewers, beating the league’s previous all-time peak.
The four-day event, held June 26–29 in Kitchener, Canada, marked the final tournament on Black Ops 6 before the Esports World Cup and featured the top eight teams competing for a $2 million prize pool. While total hours watched were down slightly from last year due to shorter match times, key viewership metrics told a different story: average concurrent viewers rose by 23.4%, and the number of channels co-streaming the event doubled.
In the grand final, which went to the eighth map of the best of 9 series, concurrent viewers hit 353,525, an all-time CDL record, according to Esports Charts.
OpTic Texas were integral to the increased viewership. Their matches dominated the weekend’s most-watched rankings, starting with a statement 3–0 sweep over Atlanta FaZe. They went on to shut out Toronto Ultra and Boston Breach before sealing a 5–3 win in the grand final. The back-to-back championship cements OpTic’s legacy as a CDL powerhouse and adds another trophy to the cabinet of head coach Damon “Karma” Barlow — now a five-time world champion across his playing and coaching career.
Another permanent spot in the Call of Duty history books for OpTic Gaming
— Jacob Hale (@JakeHaleee) June 29, 2025
CDL Champs 2025 beat out the likes of the CDL 2023 Stage 2 and Stage 3 Majors, as well as the CDL 2020 Finals, to claim the top spot.
The gap was a small one, but nonetheless a positive improvement.
The viewership milestone extended beyond the official broadcast, too. Seth “Scump” Abner broke his own YouTube live record with 173,774 peak concurrent viewers during the grand final — a 32.4% increase from last year’s peak.
With a more streamlined season format and growing interest from European fans, the CDL’s momentum appears to be building. All eyes now turn to the Esports World Cup in Riyadh from July 24–27.
