The Electronic Sports League, often abbreviated ESL, is an eSports league founded in 1997. It has over 2 600 000 registered members, thus being one of the biggest gaming leagues, and organises several StarCraft II events.

Overview [ edit ]

The ESL, which is a brand that belongs to Turtle Entertainment GmbH, is nowadays present in 37 countries. Each sections of ESL are operated by ventures under a license granted by Turtle Entertainment GmbH. These sections could correspond to a country, (like ESL Germany for instance), or to a group of low-demography countries (like ESL Nordic for Finland, Norway, Sweden and Denmark).

The ESL runs several tournaments which are ruled by volunteer admins.

Payout Controversy [ edit ]

On November 1, 2011, the Electronic Sports League came under scrutiny regarding the issue of delayed payment of prizes.[1] Several professional players stated that ESL was among tournament organizations which delay the payment of prize money up to eighteen months after competition.[2] FXOpen's staff stated that their policy was to not send for their players to compete at IEM events because of the uncertainty in receiving prize money.[3] IdrA claimed that, while ESL typically makes prize payments after a long delay, they eventually always pay what is owed.[4] Michal "Carmac" Blicharz, ESL Progaming Director, stated that ESL was on schedule with prize money payout for IEM events and that ESL remains on pace to deliver prize payments for IEM tournaments within three months of competition.[5]

Events organised during the StarCraft II era [ edit ]

ESL Pro Tour [ edit ]

In January 2020 ESL announced the ESL Pro Tour (EPT), replacing the Blizzard-organized WCS System.

The ESL Pro Tour is the place that combined the legacies of ESL, DreamHack and WCS tournaments in a 3 years' partnership. It offeres more than 4 Million USD in prize pool across the tours and crowns the official StarCraft II World Champions.

The EPT is a circuit combining ESL and DreamHack tournaments which are connected by a ranking system into one narrative that builds towards the Masters Championships each year at Intel Extreme Masters Katowice. The Masters Championship will include the best players from the ESL Pro Tour and Korean leagues.

In additon to the Masters Championships, Global Events, the DH Masters and their Qualifiers the EPT introduced the ESL Open Cups, a series of weekly cups in all 3 big regions, granting prize pool and EPT points.

Premier Events [ edit ]

Intel Extreme Masters, often abbreviated IEM, is ESL's flagship competition since 2007. The first season of the StarCraft II era (IEM Season V) featured the first ever StarCraft II premier event, followed by continental championships leading to a world championship. The format evolved in season VI and now features several global challenge leading to the world championship.

List of Intel Extreme Masters [ edit ]

= Global Event

= World Championship





Major Events [ edit ]

The ESL Pro Series, commonly abbreviated EPS, are StarCraft 2 national leagues held and organized by Electronic Sports League. The format is group stage followed by playoffs, and each national series have its own specificities. Players are allowed to participate only if they reside in the country/countries where the series are held.

List of ESL Pro Series [ edit ]





Team Tournaments [ edit ]

Major [ edit ]





Minor [ edit ]





Special Events [ edit ]

The Electronic Sports League also organised several one-off events:

List of ESL Special Events [ edit ]





Weekly Tournaments [ edit ]

See also [ edit ]

References [ edit ]



