Activision Blizzards’ activities have been upended since the lawsuit filed by California on July 22, and changes have not been avoided by smaller sections of the company. According to Dextero, and evidenced by actions and lack of advertisements, phone company T-Mobile has pulled its sponsorships of the Overwatch and Call of Duty Leagues.
From July 29 to August 1, the Call of Duty League hosted its Stage 5 Major, a large event with well-known Call of Duty teams and gamers and a prize pool of $500,000. Unusually, there was no mention of previous sponsor T-Mobile, and all references to the brand had been removed. For both Call of Duty League and Overwatch League, the brand and its logos had been taken out of the broadcasts, the websites, and even taped over on the player’s jerseys. It is clear that the two brands are no longer in a partnership together.
T-Mobile has reportedly ended its sponsorship of the Call of Duty League & Overwatch League.
Their logo was removed from the site last week.
It’s unclear if it is related to the lawsuit. Both Activision Blizzard & T-Mobile have declined to comment yet. https://t.co/KFoezhCkfC
— CharlieIntel – Call of Duty News (@charlieINTEL) August 3, 2021
While it is likely that this rift was caused by the lawsuit, neither party has made any official statement regarding the loss of sponsorship, either that it exists or its cause. Fans of the aforementioned leagues will simply have to wait and see what occurred and the fallout. The Overwatch League is broadcasting the Countdown Cup qualifiers from August 6 to August 8, and it is unknown if this loss will affect the event. It is also unknown if any other sponsors plan to follow suit. Plenty of other, far more big picture, consequences have affected Activision Blizzard because of this lawsuit and there are likely more to come as the company attempts to revamp itself into a non-hostile environment.
