ESL Pro League Teams to Forfeit Revenue Share if They Decline Too Many Invitations to ESL Events, Documents Reveal

Teams participating in ESL Pro League will not be able to decline more than two invites to ESL events without forfeiting their revenue share, according to a term sheet of the new ESL Pro League agreement obtained by DBLTAP.

Earlier in the year, several ESL Pro League Counter-Strike teams were presented with a term sheet for the new ESL Pro League agreement, initially planned to go into effect Jan. 1. Some of the terms were originally published by Dexerto in early September and DBLTAP has been informed by multiple sources that those terms have not changed since the publication of that report -- nor has Valve formally reviewed them.

In addition to those terms, among them were the limiting of teams to playing 60 tournament days not including Minors, Majors or ESL Pro League, DBLTAP has received more information regarding restrictions on participating ESL Pro League teams. According to documents reviewed by DBLTAP, teams will forfeit all revenue share if they do not participate in at least two events per calendar year or if they decline more than two invitations to ESL tournaments within a calendar year. Should a team give up their share of revenue, it would then be split among all other eligible teams.

Revenue share is a hot topic at the moment with a new Counter-Strike league set to begin in March with the code name “B Site.” The league will feature direct revenue sharing with players to the tune of $1.04 million with an opportunity to increase over time. According to documents received by DBLTAP, players of ESL Pro League receive a small portion of team revenue share after ESL and WESA have taken a cut of the revenue pool and recouped costs.

With the original date for the start of the new ESL Pro League agreement having passed and the “B Site” league on the horizon, ESL has asked at least 13 teams to meet in Paris, France on Jan. 22-24. It is their intention to discuss the details of what they are calling the “Lanxess Agreement” and attempt to tie teams to ESL Pro League for the next four years.

"It is not at all unusual for ESL to meet with various parties," said Ulrich Schulze, ESL Senior Vice President of Product, in a statement provided to DBLTAP. "We would prefer not to make a habit of commenting on every meeting that may or may not take place. However, as a blanket statement, everything material we do in CS:GO is known to and discussed with Valve, and that includes respecting their positions and guidelines when it comes to the conditions of participating in tournaments."