ESL Pro League Searching for New Team

The news that the Counter Strike: Global Offensive ESL Pro League is searching for a new team to join its ranks is hardly a surprise after the departure of 100 Thieves. This left tournament organizers in a tricky situation, but now the remaining teams in the league have given their blessing for an additional team to be brought into the fold.

The Top Teams in the World

Eyes are now being cast toward who may join, and there’s certainly been a lot of interest right from the outset. The surprising thing is that five out of the top ten CS:GO teams in the world are currently not a member of the league, so there’s a good chance one of the big guns will take up the option.

Of course, should the likes of Gambit or FURIA join the league, then they will shoot straight to the top of the betting list. After all, these teams have a tendency to be in at the tail end of tournaments, and there’s no reason why this league wouldn’t be any different for them.

But Why Not an Expansion?

But there are some wondering why there has been no mention of potentially expanding the league. After all, even with COVID the league managed to perform well. They changed their content and approach, which was still warmly received by their followers, and then there was the prize pool.

At the start, they guaranteed a seven-figure sum. They surpassed that figure by some 20%, and that’s amazing considering the financial pressures being applied in different industries around the world in the last year.

So, what about the teams already participating in the league? Would they be content with another team from the top ten joining them?

It would make sense both from a competition point of view as well as financially. Another top team would increase awareness of the league and bring in more sponsorship deals. There would be real potential for the prize pool to increase as well even though it would make it harder for a team to come out on top.

In total, organizers say they have held talks with more than 15 interested parties, but they won’t release any names at this moment. However, we would love to see someone such as Virtus.pro to land the spot. It would lead to close games between them and other contenders including G2 Esports and Fnatic to name only two.

Those kinds of matches in the Pro League would be tough to call. From an odds perspective, you would need to seriously zoom in on their recent form to see what’s going on. Anything else would simply involve you risking your cash on a blind bet.

The actual decision as to who will join the league is still to be made. We do know it’s going to be for Season 14 and onward, so there’s still a bit of time to go before the potential for a real shake-up of the hierarchy related to what is already a tough league to call. Look out for the current teams also seeking to up their game right now to lay a marker before any new additions.