Zer0 reveals CDL contract figures soared to over $200k a year

Salaries in Call of Duty esports are always an eye-watering topic, especially given the massive casual player base in the series.

It's always been known that the elite players in the world, your Seth "Scump" Abner's and Ian "Crimsix" Porter's, earn a bucket load from event winnings, content deals, sponsorships, and team salaries.

But how about your average Joe in the Call of Duty League? How much does a mid-table player make in Call of Duty esports?

Zer0 reveals he was on a $220K salary while on New York Subliners

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To be fair to Trei "Zer0" Morris, he's arguably the greatest European Call of Duty player of all time, maybe until 2023 at least when Paco "HyDra" Rusiewiez became the first World Champion from the continent, so "average Joe" might be harsh. But back in 2019, the UK-born player was in the middle of the pile for player stock, having just finished third in the CWL Pro League Playoffs.

Heading into the CDL and the formation of franchising, Zer0 has now revealed that his salary on his first team, the New York Subliners, was a whopping $220,000 a year, which also required him to live in the namesake state.

Zer0 was on Subliners for just two weeks of professional play though, before moving to the bench on the roster, as New York Subliners opted for a range of changes to the team that year, and later signed for London Royal Ravens.

Yet that $220,000 a year, or roughly $18,000 a month, wasn't "serious" money...

Zer0 claims $220K CDL salary wasn't that much

Speaking on stream, having now retired from Call of Duty esports and taken up content full-time, Zer0 claims that the salary wasn't even that much, given the rates of living in New York at the time.

"With New York tax and rent on top of that, I wasn't making serious money," he said. 

"I was supposed to be on $18,000 a month, but by the time that it hit my account it was around $10,000, and then paying rent in New York and food on top of that, you know..."

Salaries have decreased this year after it was found elite players like HyDra were offered $500K over two years.

The esports winter has definitely lowered the salaries for mid-tier players, but they're still expected to be six-figure yearly sums.