Gaming and Esports are often compared to real sports with a lot of people not realizing exactly how similar both genres are. There are fans, there is action, there are sponsors, there is money, but the world is just beginning to realize how much esports could explode over the next few years. Even famous sports celebrities are starting to get involved with gaming with high-profile investors such as Rick Fox and Shaquille O’Neal moving into the scene. These “traditional” sport players realize the potential of esports and the world is starting to realize also. Shaq even made a commercial for ELEAGUE which can be found here. Esports takes one of its biggest steps this week with the start of ELEAGUE, which also features broadcasting on TBS on American cable. Although other games have tried their hand with broadcasting live on television, this is the first time CS:GO has done something like this.
The Teams
The league consists of 24 of the world’s best teams fighting it out for a chance at the $1.2 million prize pool, the biggest in CS:GO history so far, that the league offers. Group A will begin tomorrow with Luminosity Gaming, Team Liquid, Cloud 9, and Renegades duking it out for a spot in the playoffs. Some of the other high-profile teams include Astralis, Ninjas in Pyjamas, Fnatic, Natus Vincere, and many more. Additionally, ELEAGUE also features contenders from lesser known regions such as Tyloo from China and Renegades from Australia.
Format
The games will be played at the Atlanta, Georgia, meaning that all of the games will be on LAN instead of online. For the first seven weeks, the teams will play out the group stages in best-of-one format to advance to the playoffs. Week 7 will also have a last chance qualifier for teams just outside of directly qualifying. The playoffs will have a best-of-three format with a single elimination bracket.
Schedule
The round robin group stage games will take place every Tuesday and Wednesday during the first seven weeks of the league. Starting from week 8, semifinal games for the groups will take place on Thursday with the finals of each group on Friday. The entire schedule for the league has not been 100% set yet, but ELEAGUE will be updating viewers on their website as the league progresses.
For more information on ELEAGUE, visit their website here.
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