After 15 months of being forced to play its matches remotely, including a vast majority of its inaugural season, the Call of Duty League will have all 12 of its teams in the same location playing LAN matches for its Major IV tournament weekend from June 17-20, the league announced Thursday.

The matches will take place at Esports Stadium Arlington, home to the defending champion Dallas Empire. Only the teams and limited league staff will be in attendance for the weekend’s tournament, which will be streamed as normal on YouTube and will have rapid-response COVID testing for the participants.

Fans won’t be allowed to the venue in Arlington, but it’s a large milestone as esports and sports in general begin the slow transition back to pre-coronavirus normalcy. The Major IV will be a four-day event instead of five, a shortened time frame that will begin with next weekend’s Major III to eventually give more times for teams to travel.

 “We are hopeful to get back to full-fledged arenas with fans in attendance down the road, but we wanted to make sure we’re careful and deliberate in our decisions and make sure that we prioritize safety,” said Johanna Faries, Call of Duty’s general manager. “And I think everybody’s just really excited for this moment.” 

Since the majority of the COD League’s players are already based in the Dallas-Fort Worth area and the Envy Gaming-owned Empire won last season’s championship, having the first LAN-based tournament of the season in Arlington made the most sense, Faries said. The venue has also successfully hosted past Overwatch League and other esports events, giving the league confidence that it’ll put on a strong in-person live event to kick things off.

“We know our Dallas Empire players are hungry to get back on LAN and prove their championship-winning ways,” said Geoff Moore, Envy Gaming’s president and COO. “Working with the city of Arlington and Esports Stadium Arlington to put on an event that honors player safety and competitive integrity while also producing an entertaining product for viewers tuning in is a great step for Call of Duty esports.”

Following the Dallas weekend in June for Major IV, the league will go back to remote, online play until further notice, Faries said, adding that there will be more information to come on whether Major V, the last big tournament of the regular season, will also be LAN-based. There is also no new information right now as to when fans will be allowed at a live Call of Duty League event, but bringing fans back is something the league is passionate about and something they want to get back to soon, Faries said.

“It’s great to see the progress in terms of COVID-19, especially here in the States. And so as we think about that, we will continue to be proactive as far as maintaining priority focus on safety,” she said. “The magic when you walk into a CDL event, that electrifying energy is something that only fans can bring.”

As to whether fans will be able to attend a live event in 2021, Faries said the league is looking at every possible scenario.

“If we’re ready to invite fans to future experiences, we’re gonna do that in a first-rate way and make sure that everybody feels comfortable about that experience,” she said. “And if we need to take our time, that’s because we’ve really thought through it. In either instance, we’re gonna make sure that our events are done in a great way and deliver for our fans. We’re very hopeful that we can do that, but more to come on exactly when and how.”   

While fans have been away from live action during the pandemic, CDL ratings have gone up on YouTube. Total average minute audience has been up nearly 10% year over year, AMA in Saturday and Sunday primetime slots up 15% and total hours watched is up nearly 80% compared to this time last year, per league figures.

Faries credits this increase to the shift in schedule and competitive format, where all 12 teams now compete every week, the improved player pool and a partnership with YouTube that now rewards Call of Duty players who watch their favorite game’s esport in action.

“When you think about how big the Call of Duty player base has scaled to become, even in just the past year-plus, that’s really a testament to just how good these players really have to be to compete in the CDL,” Faries said. “Just the caliber of match play has also contributed to that.”

With cities and arenas across the country slowly increasing capacity to allow fans back at sporting events coupled with higher viewership numbers in its 2nd season, Activision Blizzard is hopeful that Call of Duty will be as successful as an esports league as it’s been as a best-selling title for consoles, PC and mobile.

“We want to continue to have an eye towards growth,” Faries said.