According to a report put out by Esports Talk, NRG might part ways with their Call of Duty League team, Chicago Huntsmen, in order for the franchise’s CEO, Hector ‘H3CZ’ Rodriguez, to hold onto the OpTic Gaming brand.
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H3CZ’s recent reacquisition of OpTic Gaming from Immortals Gaming Club has sent the Call of Duty League scene into a bit of a whirlwind, and we now may know what could come of it when the dust finally settles.
With the OpTic brand tied strictly to the CDL, if Rodriguez is to maintain ownership of it and not have to sell it, then NRG could put their Chicago Huntsmen franchise up for sale instead.
According to sources close to Esports Talk host ‘Jake Lucky,’ the league office is requiring franchises to stay at the city they were originally assigned to, which means that H3CZ’s supposed “Chicago OpTic” dream can’t come to fruition.
“It seems that the league itself may not even allow the OpTic brand to leave the city of Los Angeles,” he said. “Apparently the league is making it so these brands have to stay with their established cities, which means the Huntsmen would have to stay in Chicago and OpTic would have to stay in LA.
“I’ve been told, NRG would, in fact, acquire the OGLA team and spot, and thus sell the Chicago Huntsmen to anyone else, or a newcomer, or a new round of investors who wants to come in the league.
“Apparently, H3CZ supposedly wanted ‘Chicago OpTic’ to be a thing, but it wasn’t allowed by the league because OpTic has to stay with that LA branding. So, NRG has to acquire the OGLA spot, and with it OpTic Gaming, and sell Chicago Huntsmen to any newcomers.”
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Of course, if this was to come to fruition, it would raise massive questions about the roster situations on both teams, especially considering that Brandon ‘Dashy’ Otell just left OGLA for Huntsmen this offseason.
“There is no guarantee that the roster swaps would happen,” he added. “That means, whoever comes in and takes over the Chicago Huntsmen, they would get Scump, FormaL, Dashy, and Envoy, and instead, H3CZ and NRG would be operating with the current OpTic boys.”
However, sources close to the situation have advised Dexerto that H3CZ would be able to keep his team intact if these transactions were to happen, meaning the likes of Scump and FormaL, who joined Huntsmen partly because of Rodriguez’s presence, will be able to stay with the CEO.
Esports Talk also mentioned that 100 Thieves CEO Matt ‘Nadeshot’ Haag was “all in” to purchase the OpTic spot but was tied down by the organization’s board and their financial obligations.
While not confirmed, it appears that the plan may have been for Nadeshot and 100T to purchase that Los Angeles CDL slot and rebrand it to “LA Thieves,” while H3CZ would take his beloved OpTic branding back to Chicago, which seems to have fallen through considering the latest reports.
Of course, 100T could still go for a CDL spot by purchasing and rebranding the Huntsmen, if NRG puts it up for sale, but for Rodriguez to hold onto the Green Wall, it appears unlikely that he’ll be able to do so in Chicago.
As always, we will continue to update this article with more information as it becomes available.
