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Following Activision Blizzard’s ongoing discrimination lawsuit, it appears the Call of Duty League and Overwatch League have quietly lost their old T-Mobile partnership.
On July 22, the state of California filed a civil action against Activision Blizzard, citing a variety of issues of gender discrimination and a general “frat-boy culture.” From July 29 to August 1, Activision’s CDL hosted its biggest event of 2021: the Stage 5 Major.
Interestingly, the league’s main non-game sponsor T-Mobile apparently disappeared completely during the event – despite being the most-watched show of the season.
After a deeper dive, the T-Mobile logo appears to have been stuck on player jerseys, while the mark has been removed from all broadcast segments and the CDL website. Moreover, this also appears to have happened for Activision’s sister league, the OWL.
T-Mobile quietly removed from CDL and OWL websites
The screenshots above show 1) CDL website July 21 and 2) CDL website July 31. As you can see, T-Mobile has been shut down within a week since Activision Blizzard was sued. This also applies to the “Partners” page of the OWL website, which has been modified in the same way.
Another noticeable change was that players had registered the T-Mobile logos during the Major V broadcast. As can be seen in the photos, the Subliners seem to have quickly stuck on the part of their jerseys that displayed the T-Mobile branding.
While some may have noticed players with shirts glued to the broadcast, there are two other clear signs that the partnership is distancing. One such example is the CDL’s T-Mobile Weekly Sweepstakes, whose FAQ states that the final period has been “canceled” and that “the raffle has ended”.
And, finally, on the OWL side – the league used to have the T-Mobile brand in its “Overwatch League Perks” program (as seen in a tweet from May 2021), but that seems to have changed early. August.
There are no wrong answers 🥳
With the advantages of the Overwatch League of @T Mobile, if you watch 4 hours of the June Joust, you will receive an exclusive OWL skin.
Vote for which skin YOU want to win 👇
– Overwatch League (@overwatchleague) May 24, 2021
It’s still time, guys!
Watch four hours of # OWL2021 to receive an exclusive legendary skin!
Vote below to determine which hero will represent the league in style 👇
– Overwatch League (@overwatchleague) August 2, 2021
As the CDL hit an audience milestone (over 100,000 watched Major 5 live) and both leagues head to a much-anticipated playoffs, immediate suspicion arises about the sudden distancing.
In terms of timing, the simplest assumption would be for T-Mobile to move away from the trial. Whether or not this is the case remains to be seen, as neither Activision nor T-Mobile have publicly discussed the split.
Dexerto has contacted Activision and T-Mobile PR for comment and will update this article if we receive a response.
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