CS: GO Team to be added to the ESL Pro League

CS: GO Team to be added to the ESL Pro League

When it comes to popular games few titles will ever be able to reach the heights of CS: GO (Counter-Strike Global Offensive). The game was developed by Valve and released on a variety of platforms in August 2012 and has been positively received by the gaming community. Hence, it makes sense for it to become one of the most popular eSports titles today. This is where the ESL Pro League comes into play as it is looking to add one more team to participate in the ESL’s CS: GO, league.

In this segment, we’ll be taking a look at the reason for this along with the process a team would have to go through before it would be able to compete in the league.

ESL Pro League

The ESL Pro League has issued a statement saying that it has started a Request for Proposals for eSports teams that are interested in partnering with the CS: GO league that’s hosted by the ESL. Both the ESL and the existing teams that compete in the league have approved the process and are now searching for one more team to compete against them from Season 14 and beyond.

The Commissioner of the CS: GO Pro League, Alexander Inglot, has stated that the 2020 revenue guarantees were established before the pandemic hit; however, despite the fear that the goals would not be reached, they had managed to end the year by exceeding the revenue guarantees by 20%. The minimum guarantees are set to multiply over two years and the company, along with the teams, are in a comfortable and strong position.

Informal conversations have been held as over 15 organizations have expressed interest in becoming a member of the league. This has led the league to believe that it is in a strong position, as popularity continues to rise and it has had an incredibly financial year.

The Current Competitors

There are currently 12 eSports teams that are involved with the ESL Pro League, such as Complexity Gaming, Evil Geniuses, Fnatic, mousesports, Ninjas in Pajamas, Team Vitality, Astralis, ENCE, FaZe Clan, G2 Esports, Natus Vincere, and Team Liquid. All of the aforementioned partnerships had been established under the ‘Louvre Agreement’ which had been signed in February 2020. This was based on which teams/organizations were to become primary shareholders within the ESL Pro League along with a series of additional benefits in the ESL Pro Tour.

The reason for the hunt for a 13th organization is due to the departure of 100 Thieves, as they had withdrawn from the CS: GO league. There is a range of interesting choices to fill the empty slot as 5 of the 10 top teams in the world are not featured in the Pro League. This includes teams such as Virtus.pro, FURIA, and Gambit.

Adding Another Team

There are 6 phases that need to be run through to add a team to the Pro League. This includes an RFP launch, an invitation phase, a submission phase, a commissioner review, a bidding process, and a member meeting vote.