Three-time Call of Duty world champion Ian ‘Crimsix’ Porter has called out Call of Duty League franchises over salary payments, calling it an “absolute joke” that some teams are paying players “the dogs**t minimum.”
Salaries have been a huge topic of discussion for Call of Duty fans (and, obviously, players), even since way before the league was franchised in 2019.
Since the league took the franchised route, though, we’re a little closer to understanding salaries better. We know that at the start of the Modern Warfare season, there was a minimum salary cap of $50,000, and a maximum cap of around $1.5m.
While this may have changed somewhat in the Black Ops Cold War season, especially with a reduction of teams down from 5 players to 4, it’s unclear what exactly this change could have been.
While nearer the start of the Modern Warfare season James ‘Clayster’ Eubanks confirmed that all starting pros at the beginning of the season were making $150k minimum, that appears to have changed drastically in the months since.
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During a discussion on his Twitch stream in the early hours of October 14, Crimsix spoke out against the salary situation in the CDL.
“When you have one-third of the league paying the absolute minimums on salaries, that’s a huge f**king problem,” he said. “I’ll probably get fined for this, but how is that allowed? It makes me sick.”
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“A third of the League is saying ‘we’re going to pay you in goddamn dimes’,” he continued. “I’m sorry, but the only thing that pis*es me off the most about this sh*t, is that people who can stop them and say ‘this is not right’ are not saying a damn thing about it.”
Crimsix didn’t name any of the franchises involved, but being one of the undisputed greatest CoD players ever, is likely able to negotiate much higher salaries than the minimum.
CDL salaries remain private, and it’s impossible to know whether we’ll see any significant change heading into the Vanguard season in 2022. Crimsix hoped that by calling it out publicly on stream though, he could initiate some change – even if it meant facing a fine himself.