While Natus Vincere and s1mple triumphed at the latest edition of ESL Pro League, the Tournament Organizer was already thinking about next year’s tournament.
ESL presented their new plan for ESL Pro League on Twitter.
We are happy to announce some exciting changes to #ESLProLeague! ?
? Expanding from 24 to 34 teams
? A new stage: Conference
? All EPT Challenger level competitions now qualify for EPL
✔️ Season 15 to function as transitional seasonRead more at ➡️ https://t.co/G1BCEBMvXj pic.twitter.com/z7Nu08BJIs
— ESL Counter-Strike (@ESLCS) September 16, 2021
From ESL Pro League Season 15 and onwards, there will be a Conference League played before the Group Stage of the Pro League. The Conference League will act as a qualifier for the Group Stage as we know from the Play-ins at IEM Cologne and Katowice this year. The Pro League will increase from 24 teams to 34. The prize pool will also increase to $850,000.
Sixteen teams earn their spots into ESL Pro League exclusively via the EPT Challenger Competitions.
ESL National Championships
ESL Challenger (formerly known as DH Open)
ESL Challenger Leagues (formerly known as ESEA Premier).
ESL Pro League Season 15 will serve as a transitional season already starting 23rd of November 2021 with the Conference League, while the main tournament will take place from the 9th of March 2022.
