ESL Pro League makes its highly anticipated return to a live arena setting for Season 23. While the initial stages will be fought out online, the final eight teams will travel to Sweden to compete for the trophy. Notably, the world’s current #1 and #2 teams, Vitality and Falcons, both declined their invitations to manage their 2026 schedules. This opened the door for Ninjas in Pyjamas and Passion UA to join the fray, while FUT stepped in as a replacement for Lynn Vision.
ESL has already announced that the next Pro League (Season 24) will be held entirely on LAN in Katowice with only 16 teams.
See all results and the schedule for Season 23 Stage 1 here.
See all results and the schedule for Season 23 Stage 2 here.
Dates and location
🗓️ Stage 1 & 2 (Online): March 1st – March 10th, 2026
📍 Playoffs (LAN): Stockholm, Sweden 🇸🇪 (Annexet)
🗓️ Playoffs Dates: March 13th – March 15th, 2026
💰 Prize: $1,000,000
🎫 Tickets: Available now
Format
Stage 1 (Online)
- 16-team Swiss Group Stage
- All matches are Bo3
- Top 8 teams advance to Stage 2
Stage 2 (Online)
- 16-team Swiss (8 from Stage 1 + 8 high-seed invites)
- All matches are Bo3
- Top 8 teams advance to Playoffs
Playoffs (LAN)
- Single elimination bracket
- Quarterfinals & Semifinals Bo3
- 3rd place decider match Bo3
- Grand Final Bo5
Teams
| Stage 1 Invites | Stage 2 Invites (Direct) |
| G2 | Spirit |
| Astralis | MOUZ |
| Liquid | Natus Vincere |
| 3DMAX | FaZe |
| HEROIC | FURIA |
| paiN | The MongolZ |
| Ninjas in Pyjamas | Aurora |
| Passion UA | B8 |
| PARIVISION | Legacy (qualified from Stage 1) |
| FUT | FUT (qualified from Stage 1) |
| Legacy | Astralis (qualified from Stage 1) |
| M80 | Monte (qualified from Stage 1) |
| NRG | paiN (qualified from Stage 1) |
| Monte | |
| Gaimin Gladiators | |
| SemperFi |
Talent
A-Stream
- Commentators/Analysts/Hosts:
B-Stream
- Commentators:
- Skriv (Harvey Rodgers)
- Ne0kai (Neo Caine)
- James Bardolph (James Bardolph)
- ddk (Daniel Kapadia)
