The history of ESLProLeague began in 2015, and the league was founded by two organizations - the German ElectronicSportsLeague(ESL) and the American E-SportsEntertainmentAssociationLeague(ESEA). In the spring of 2015, they announced the creation of a joint project – CS:GO Championship that would bring together teams from two continents to compete for a prize pool of $500,000 each season. At that time, all participants were divided into two regional divisions of 12 teams each.
Over time, the number of teams increased and the prize fund – for example, in 2018 it was already a million dollars. The tournament is now held twice a year and is no longer limited to teams from Europe and North America, making the competition even more unpredictable.
How the ESL Pro League
haschanged
The ESEA organization, which was originally involved in the creation of the ProTour, eventually moved away and started to run its own league called ESEAPremier (later known as ESEAMDL). It can be considered a lower division in relation to ESLProLeague, and the most successful teams from it can make their way into EPL tournaments.
The new stage for ESLProTour began with Season 13. In 2020, ESL decided to revamp the tournament's structure by contracting exclusive partnerships with 11 top eSports organizations. These include teams such as NAVI, Astralis, ENCE, FaZe and other collectives. They all get their share of revenue from the series tournaments and are also insured against relegation to a lower division. By now the number of partner organizations has increased to 15.
What is the format of the ESLProLeaguenow?
In the current, sixteenth season of ESLProLeague, 24 teams are fighting for a prize pool of more than 800 dollars, and the playoffs will be held from September 27 to October 2. The team that wins the grand finals will receive $175, ,000, while second and third place – $70, ,000 and $35, ,000, respectively. In addition, teams receive an extra reward for each match won at the group stage.
The tournament is played according to a time-tested scheme: the group tournament is played in a round-robin format, which allows all teams in the group to face each other once. The leaders of each group advance straight to the quarterfinals, while the second and third place teams – advance to the lower rounds of the playoffs. The final stage is played in a singleelimination format with three-round matches. The exception is the grand final, in which the winner is decided in five rounds. And who will become him this time, will be known soon – grand final will be held this Sunday, October 2.