In a somewhat non-shocking turn of events, the Call of Duty League franchise the Vegas Falcons officially changed its name to the Riyadh Falcons, announced that it would now be headquartered in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, and that it has signed star Call of Duty player McArthur “Cellium” Jovel. Cellium posted an announcement on X Tuesday delivering the news.
Riyadh is our new home, and we’re excited to bring on a World Champion with multiple trophies. Please welcome @Cellium 🦅💚#RiyadhFalcons || #FalconsAreHere pic.twitter.com/STrJlPf0ej
— Riyadh Falcons (@Riyadh_Falcons) September 9, 2025
In June 2022, the franchise formally known as Paris Legion announced its relocation from Paris, France, to Las Vegas for the 2023 season. By September 2022, it had officially moved to Las Vegas, Nevada, and announced its name change to Vegas Legion. Paris Legion and Vegas Legion were owned and operated by c0ntact Gaming. In late 2024 before the start of the 2025 season, the owners of Vegas Legion announced that the franchise slot had been bought by Saudi Arabian organization Team Falcons.
On a related note, Cellium, who had been with Atlanta FaZe for a nearly seven year run announced that he was leaving the organization on Aug. 29, in a social media post.
While not emphatically stated, it is clear that Call of Duty League owners Activision Blizzard had to approve this move of the franchise from North America to Riyadh, which means that Saudi Arabia appears to now be a part of a mostly North American-centric league.
This is also not particularly shocking as Activision Blizzard and the CDL are more than happy to participate in Saudi Arabian government-funded events; it allowed the Esports World Cup to run major Call of Duty and Call of Duty Warzone competitions at the seven-week event in Riyadh during the summer.