ESL and Intel announced the renewal of their partnership to continue cultivating esports. The renewed partnership marks 20 years of collaboration between the two companies. Kicking off next year, the partnership sees both ESL and Intel investing $100 million for over three years up to Intel Extreme Masters Katowice 2025. Additionally, the esports organizer and production company already introduced multiple updates to the ESL Pro Tour, including IEM Cologne for CS:GO.
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ESL Pro Tour and IEM Cologne
Lighting the renewed partnership, ESL has declared all non-league EPT Masters tournaments under the IEM brand. Additionally, the added level of competitiveness coming to the ESL Pro Tour will continue to ramp up. The world series will consist of IEM circuit events and two league seasons each year on the master level.
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On the challenger level, tournaments like DreamHack Open, ESL National Championships and ESEA Premier will persist in finding and developing new talent. Lastly, the IEM Cologne and IEM Katowice championships become the pinnacle tournament for only the best CS:GO esports teams to compete in. Although nothing much has changed in the upper leagues, ESL looks to promote the growth, development and rise of future stars through its newly-updated lower levels.
ESL and Intel Renews Partnership
For two decades, ESL and Intel have accomplished feats through events that led to the greatest moments in esports history. With 82 executed IEM events in a total of 15 seasons across the world, it cemented the legacy of ESL above the rest. The renewal is a continuation of both companies’ agreements since 2016, where Intel became ESL’s Global Technical Partner. The partnership commences in 2022 with ESL and Intel investing $100 million for CS:GO and esports events up to 2025.
In a press release, Ralf Reichert, Co-CEO at ESL Gaming, spoke on the next three years of esports.
“After 20 years of building something hand in hand it’s hard to consider Intel as merely a partner,” Reichert said. “The two-decade journey has forged a bond that has no parallel in the world of esports and we are excited to be extending it with a commitment of this magnitude; the next three years will be the greatest esports fans have seen yet.”
Besides from a business standpoint, the ESL and Intel partnership renewal is also great news for fans. Both companies strive to develop lower leagues and cover for non-EPT events, which means more entertainment and rising stars. However, esports fanatics must wait for 2022 and the later years to unfold. For now, ESL and Intel fans can schedule their calendars for the upcoming CS:GO esports tournament, IEM Cologne on June 6.
Written by Jay Hunter
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