After formally departing London, the Royal Ravens will take part in the 2024 Call of Duty League season. The final EU franchise has been eliminated as a result of the change after four seasons. Carolina Royal Ravens is the new name for the London franchise, which has relocated to Charlotte, North Carolina. The team will use the Carolina name instead, much like the NFL’s Carolina Panthers, in order to follow a similar pattern of conventional sports franchises centred in the city of Charlotte.
While the Royal Ravens name is a reference to the actual ravens that reside in the Tower of London as symbolic protectors of the Crown, the city of Charlotte is commonly known as The Queen City as it was named after a former Queen in Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz. While the team keeps the UK-inspired name, the franchise’s departure from the UK means that both EU-based franchises have now left, with the Paris Legion leaving for Las Vegas at the start of last season.
The Royal Ravens franchise is owned and operated by Infinite Reality, which acquired former parent company ReKTGlobal for $470 million in July 2022. Per Kevin Hitt of SBJ, who reported the team’s plans to move to Charlotte back in June, the ownership group also had backup plans in place for Mexico City, Washington D.C., and Chicago. The Royal Ravens are the second team to rebrand this offseason, following the Florida Mutineers’ change to the Miami Heretics.
As for the Ravens’ roster itself, the team parted ways with all of its players this past June ahead of the rebranding. It’s unclear currently who will play for the team in their inaugural season in Carolina.