ELEAGUE

ELEAGUE
Sport Counter Strike: Global Offensive
Founded May 24, 2016
Commissioner Min-Sik Ko [1]
No. of teams 24
Headquarters Atlanta, Georgia, United States
Most recent
champion(s)		 OpTic Gaming
(1st title)
Most titles Virtus.pro
OpTic Gaming
TV partner(s)
Official website www.e-league.com
ELeague
Genre eSports
Presented by Richard Lewis
Original language(s) English
Production
Location(s) Atlanta, Georgia, US
Production company(s) Turner Broadcasting
Release
Original network TBS
Original release May 24, 2016 (2016-05-24)

ELEAGUE is a professional Counter-Strike: Global Offensive league that began broadcasting in Summer 2016 on TBS. On September 24, 2015 Turner Broadcasting announced that it was partnering with talent agency WME/IMG for a new esports project.[2] The league features 24 teams from across the world to compete in two 10-week league seasons annually,[2] which includes a regular season, playoffs, and a championship.[3] Sources at Turner say there are no plans to lock teams into exclusivity, unlike the Championship Gaming Series, a previous attempt in 2006-2008 to bring professional video games to television in the United States.[2] Matches are broadcast live on TBS on Friday nights, starting on May 27, 2016.[4] The broadcast is simultaneously available on the online streaming service Twitch.[5] Matches are played at the Turner Studios facility in Atlanta, Georgia, United States.[6][7] Esports programming is planned to be part of a revamped TBS.[8] The name "ELEAGUE" was officially unveiled on December 4, 2015.[9]

Turner will be partnering with online streaming services to bring additional video content.[10] One such program will feature the Renegades' move from Australia to the United States. Additional content will be available on Bleacher Report's Team Stream App.[5]

On March 12, 2016 ELEAGUE announced sponsorship from Arby's, Credit Karma, and Buffalo Wild Wings.[11]

On September 26, 2016, Valve announced that Eleague will host the first major of 2017, Eleague Major 2017 from January 22 to January 29, 2017. The finals will be broadcast live on TBS.[12]

Season 1

Eleague Season 1 began May 24, 2016. 24 teams were divided into six groups. After each team in a group plays the other three teams in its group twice, the teams are placed into a four team, single elimination bracket, with seeding based on the results of the group results. The winner of the group bracket moves on to the Playoffs and the runner-up moves on to the Last Chance Qualifier bracket. In addition, the top two third place teams move on to the Last Chance Qualifier bracket. The Last Chance Qualifier teams play in an eight team, single elimination bracket, in which two teams move on to the Playoffs bracket. The Playoffs consisted of the six group winners – France Team EnVyUs, Sweden Fnatic, Ukraine Natus Vincere, United States Cloud9, Denmark Astralis, and Sweden Ninjas in Pyjamas – and the two teams out of the Last Chance Qualifier – Germany mousesports and Poland Virtus.pro.

The finals took place on July 30, 2016. It headed Fnatic and Virtus.pro, in which Virtus.pro won 2-0, and the inaugural Eleague season.

Brazil Luminosity Gaming and Denmark SK Gaming were both disqualified from Eleague.[13] The Luminosity players, coach, and manager had all signed with SK to play with the team in the future prior to joining Luminosity. After weeks of contract disputes, Luminosity and SK settled to an agreement, resulting in the Brazilians joining SK Gaming and the Danish players forming a new team, Team X.[14][15] Eleague saw this as a promotional campaign for the teams, thus, disqualifying both teams from the tournament. It was later reported that at least five Eleague teams – Cloud9, Echo Fox, NRG eSports, Team Liquid, and Team SoloMid – petitioned to prevent the current SK Gaming from inheriting Luminosity's spot in the Playoffs.[16] SK Gaming's Epitácio "TACO" de Melo alleged that his team was not notified of the ruling before it was publicly announced.[17]

Season 2

At the end of the season 1 finals, analyst Richard Lewis announced that the second season of Eleague would air on October 7, 2016. Eleague confirmed that the second season will be CS:GO again.[18]

The second season strayed away from the first season's format. Instead, it reflected the format of that of a Valve-sponsored CS:GO major, such as MLG Columbus 2016 or ESL One Cologne 2016. The season will feature open and closed qualifiers, double elimination group stages, and – like last season – a Playoffs.

ELeague Season 2 started October 21, 2016.

The eight teams in the playoffs were the group winners – Germany mousesports, Poland Virtus.pro, Denmark Astralis, and Denmark Team Dignitas – and the group runner-ups – European Union FaZe Clan, Sweden Ninjas in Pyjamas, Brazil SK Gaming, and OpTic Gaming.

The finals pitted Astralis, which defeated Ninjas in Pyjamas and SK Gaming, and OpTic Gaming, which defeated mousesports and FaZe Clan. In the end, OpTic Gaming defeated Astralis, two games to one, to win season two of ELeague.

ELeague Major 2017

On September 27, 2016, Valve announced the tenth major in CSGO and the first major of 2017: the ELeague Major 2017.[19] Like other majors, the top eight teams from the last major, ESL One Cologne 2016, will be invited to the major and eight other teams will play through a qualifier. ELEAGUE Major 2017 will take place from January 22, 2017 to January 29, 2017, making is the longest running major with eight days. Previous majors lasted three to six days.[20]

References

  1. ↑ https://twitter.com/minsikko?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor
  2. 1 2 3 Lewis, Richard (September 23, 2015). "Turner set to unveil televised esports league featuring CS:GO". The Daily Dot. Retrieved November 16, 2015.
  3. ↑ Frank, Allegra (September 24, 2015). "eSports comes to primetime on TBS in 2016 with Counter-Strike: Global Offensive". Polygon. Retrieved November 20, 2015.
  4. ↑ Spangler, Todd (September 23, 2015). "Turner, WME/IMG Form E-Sports League, With TBS to Air Live Events". Variety. Retrieved November 16, 2015.
  5. 1 2 "Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. and WME | IMG Form Strategic Partnership to Create Groundbreaking eSports League". Time Warner. September 24, 2015. Retrieved November 20, 2015.
  6. ↑ Schwartz, Nick (September 23, 2015). "Turner buys into eSports with creation of new 'Counter-Strike' league". USA Today.
  7. ↑ Higgins, Chris (September 24, 2015). "Turner Broadcasting unveils new televised CS:GO league". Market for Home Computing and Video Games. Retrieved November 16, 2015.
  8. ↑ Dave, Paresh (September 23, 2015). "Competitive video gaming is set to return to TV in 2016". LA Times. Retrieved November 20, 2015.
  9. ↑ Heitner, Darren (December 4, 2015). "New Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO) League Announces $1.2 Million Prize Pool". Forbes. Retrieved December 4, 2015.
  10. ↑ Wynne, Jared (November 6, 2015). "Turner plans to partner with an online streaming company, expand into other esports". The Daily Dot. Retrieved November 20, 2015.
  11. ↑ "ELEAGUE lands Arby's, Credit Karma, and Buffalo Wild Wings sponsorships". The Daily Dot. Retrieved 28 May 2016.
  12. ↑ http://www.eleague.com/news/2016/9/27/eleague-to-host-csgo-major-championship-1
  13. ↑ https://twitter.com/minsikko/status/750751598603894785
  14. ↑ http://www.espn.com/esports/story/_/id/15774305/sk-gaming-luminosity-locked-contract-disputes-sk-attempted-poach-luminosity-players
  15. ↑ http://www.espn.com/esports/story/_/id/16479560/sk-luminosity-gaming-settle-differences-players-move-sk-gaming-july-1
  16. ↑ http://www.espn.com/esports/story/_/id/16836428/eleague-teams-petitioned-prevent-sk-inheriting-luminosity-playoff-spot
  17. ↑ https://twitter.com/TACOCS/status/750757913669537792?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
  18. ↑ https://twitter.com/el/status/755843493977661440
  19. ↑ http://www.hltv.org/news/18774-eleague-to-host-next-major
  20. ↑ http://wiki.teamliquid.net/counterstrike/Turner_Sports/ELEAGUE/2017/Major

External links

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