Esports Stadium Arlington hosts 6,000+ raucous fans over four days at Call of Duty League tournament
1,183 days. That’s the wait since the OpTic franchise last hoisted a championship trophy. The streak ended Sunday evening in dramatic fashion, as OpTic Texas – the DFW-based team competing in the global Call of Duty League – twice defeated the top-ranked Atlanta Faze team to claim a commanding victory and $200,000 prize purse at the Call of Duty League Major I hosted at Esports Stadium Arlington.
More than 6,000 fans attended the four-day event in Arlington, Tex., which marked the first major esports event in North America of 2022 and was played to a raucous, sold-out arena crowd. Fans traveled in from across North America to watch the best 48 players in the world compete in Call of Duty, with more than 50% of attendees traveling in from out of state.
OpTic Texas, the No. 4 ranked team in Call of Duty League regular season standings entering the tournament, strung together impressive performances from Seth “Scump” Abner, Brandon “Dashy” Otell, Anthony “Shotzzy” Cuevas-Castro, and Indervir “iLLeY” Dhaliwal to advance through the winner’s bracket. OpTic Texas defeated the Seattle Surge 3-0 on Thursday, completed a reverse sweep to best Atlanta Faze 3-2 on Saturday, beat the London Royal Ravens 3-1 on Sunday, and stifled a surging Atlanta Faze team once more, winning 5-2 in the championship match behind a breakthrough performance from iLLeY.
Cheers of “Let’s Go OpTic” rang through the crowd, more than 1,700 strong on Sunday for the best-of-nine championship match, as OpTic Texas jumped out to an early lead with an imposing hardpoint round win and closed out with a win on a round of search and destroy.
“I’m on top of the world right now. This team has worked so so hard, day in and day out, always improving. We do it all and that showed tonight,” said Scump.
Mountain Dew served as presenting sponsor for the Call of Duty League’s OpTic Major I, and brands including Aim Lab, Razer, and Scuf activated onsite. Esports Stadium Arlington, the largest turnkey esports facility in North America, hosted the event March 3-6, 2022. Esports Stadium Arlington is now operated by Envy Gaming, a Texas-based esports and entertainment company that owns professional esports teams, operates content networks, and maintains a live and digital events business.
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