The London Royal Ravens — the only remaining European franchise in the Call of Duty League — has officially announced its move to North America with a relocation to North Carolina to become the Carolina Royal Ravens.
In recent years, the Royal Ravens have failed to make much of an impact in the CDL — lackluster performances have seen them miss out on Champs and struggle to see results at LAN Majors, and the fanbase’s calls for a London event have fallen on deaf ears.
Earlier in the offseason, it was reported that the franchise was eyeing up a move to Charlotte, North Carolina, where parent company ReKTGlobal was originally based, though the team was later acquired by Infinite Reality and based in California, as well as a takeover from Spanish-based organization KOI, founded by top Twitch streamer Ibai Llanos.
While the process was a slow one, and there wasn’t much further development on the matter throughout the offseason, the move was finally made official on September 5, as the franchise teased a major announcement throughout the day before finally making it.
Carolina Royal Ravens made official
On September 5, the Royal Ravens posted to confirm that the relocation was going ahead, despite backlash faced from fans across the UK in the aftermath of the initial reports.
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COD is coming to the Carolinas 👑We're thrilled to announce we're taking our royal wings to the Queen City, Charlotte, NC. The next chapter of the Royal Ravens will be fueled by the energy, culture, and resilience of the Carolinas.We want to thank all of our London fans. From… pic.twitter.com/usLFEepRTo
— Carolina Royal Ravens (@RoyalRavens) September 5, 2023
The team is one of the last to announce its roster for the upcoming Call of Duty League 2023/24 season, joined only by LA Guerrillas and Vegas Legion with no tangible reports or rumors around who the team will include.
This change means there are no longer any CDL franchises representing the UK, or Europe whatsoever.
Every other team has announced their roster amid this CDL rostermania period, with the exception of Seattle Surge, who seem to have a roster ready to go that Dexerto previously reported on.