Scump concerned the CDL will leave Twitch for YouTube

Seth ‘Scump’ Abner fears for the future of the Call of Duty League as he believes the league will move exclusively over to YouTube and miss out on important viewers from Twitch.

The Call of Duty League started streaming on Twitch for the 2023 season, and the move paid massive dividends. Scump and other COD community members, such as the Flank, started co-streaming matches, which contributed to a massive spike in viewership.

Scump’s first watch party peaked at around 95,000 viewers. And then, CDL Major 3 became the most-watched event since the league began in 2020, surpassing 333,000 between the mainstream and other co-streams.

But beginning with the Major 4 Qualifiers, the league also started streaming matches from YouTube. In April, Scump expressed concerns that this signaled a soft launch back to YouTube full-time, and he recently doubled down on his worries.

Scump warns CDL fans over potential move back to YouTube

On May 26, during a recording of the OpTic Podcast, OpTic Gaming CEO Hector ‘H3CZ’ Rodriguez talked about being more hands-on in the design process for CDL skins. Scump responded that he should also get his hands on the YouTube contract because he fears a move is coming.

H3CZ reassured Scump that he won’t let a move to YouTube happen if he has a say in it.

Anthony ‘Methodz’ Zinni jumped in and claimed: ” If we go to YouTube, I don’t know if we’ll make it through.”

The former Boston Breach player added: “I think if everyone just conforms to the short-term bag instead of letting us grow, for the long-term bag, it’s just f**king stupid.”

Scump looked back on how league viewership performed when YouTube used to have exclusive rights, and the OpTic legend argued the first event will have 100,000 viewers, but by Major 4 Qualifer matches, that number will plummet to 20,000 or less.

“It’s going to happen; it always does. That’s what happened when it was on YouTube last time, and it’s going to happen again.”

Scump is also worried an exclusive move to YouTube would eliminate co-streams, which has positively impacted viewership.

The CDL has not confirmed its streaming plans yet for the 2024 season.