ESL and DreamHack will launch a CS:GO global circuit in 2020 a called ESL Pro Tour with over $5 million in prizes.
The ESL Pro Tour will combine over 20 ESL and DreamHack tournaments into only one narrative that will build towards to two grand championships each year.
The ESL Pro Tour will be divided into two levels, Challengers and Masters. The Challengers includes teams that attend DreamHack Open events, the ESEA MDL and the ESL National Championships. These minor tournaments will serve as a platform for teams to reach the major tournaments, which will each give at least $250,000 in prizes. These tournaments include ESL One, IEM and DreamHack Masters events, as well as the ESL Pro League itself.
By competiting in these ESL Pro Tour tournaments, the teams will gain points in a ranking. The best will earn spots at the two Masters Championships finals, which will happen in the next IEM Katowice and ESL One Cologne.
Ralf Reichert, ESL’s CEO, said that ESL’s growth in the last years led the company to this. “We have built some of the world’s most impressive esports tournaments,” Reichert said. “It was the time to connect the dots where the outcome is a bigger picture that fits better with our vision for esports.”
He added that the partnership between ESL and DreamHack will give a more clear path to young players and teams so they can become famous.
ESL will announce more details on Sept. 28 during a media briefing at ESL One New York.
