ESL Pro League Teams Increase To 15 And Extend Louvre Agreement
Published: Jan 13, 2022
It has been a busy week for the ESL Pro League with two major moves that will enhance the future of one of the most popular esports tournaments.
First up, the 12 teams that were part of the Louvre Agreement, a key piece of legislation that set up the structure of the ESL Pro League, have agreed to allow three additional teams to join as partner members.
Furthermore, the member teams have also agreed to extend the Louvre Agreement through until 2025, meaning that the long term future of the tournament and the teams competing in it, looks very secure.
What Is The Louvre Agreement?
The Louvre Agreement is the name for the partnership deal between the now 15 members of the CSGO-based ESL Pro League.
The agreement means that all 15 teams will continue to participate and govern the ESL Pro League in conjunction with ESL.
As members of the Louvre Agreement, and similar to the situation in the Overwatch World League and Call of Duty World League, the 15 members will compete in the tournament on an ongoing basis and will not be subject to relegation.
Furthermore, the agreement means that when it comes to deciding the strategy and direction of the league moving forward, the 15 teams will have an equal input into what can and should occur alongside ESL.
Who Is In The Louvre Agreement?
Initially, the Louvre Agreement was signed in February 2020 by 13 original member teams Astralis, Complexity, Evil Geniuses, FaZe Clan, Fnatic, G2 Esports, NAVI, Ninjas in Pyjamas, 100 Thieves, ENCE, Team Vitality, Team Liquid and Mouz. 100 Thieves resigned from the agreement in 2021.
These teams have now been joined by Heroic, BIG and Furia to take the number of partner teams up to 15.
Furia Esports and BIG will join with immediate effect for the 2022 tournament, with Heroic set to join later in the year once the ‘HUNDEN’ investigation into their former coach Nicolai Petersen has been completed.
Speaking of the deal, the ESL Pro League Commissioner Alex Inglot commented
“These teams and their investors have recognised the value of what we are building with the ESL Pro League project.”
“The fact that they have put down such significant bids (with financial and non-financial components to each) shows they see real stable governance and growing value, that puts us on a par with other top-tier investment opportunities in esports or sports.”
North America Rebuild
The new agreement does more than secure the immediate future of the ESL Pro League and its 15 partner teams, there are also significant plans for teams to increase their revenue streams from the tournament.
Given that CSGO is a popular sport for esports betting, it is likely that teams will be looking into this as an additional revenue source, if they have not already done so.
However, what is very exciting is a pledge to help teams in North America rebuild the CS:GO scene in that part of the world.
This sits nicely alongside the GGFORALL program which was announced back in December 2021, which sees a number of women’s CSGO teams competing on their own circuit with $500,000 in prize winnings confirmed for the first season in 2022.
Since: August 10, 2015
