ESL Pro League Season 25 will be held in Saudi Arabia for the first time

Tournament organizer ESL has announced that the 25th season of ESL Pro League will take place in Saudi Arabia. The event will run from March 4 to 14, 2027, and will mark the first time ESL’s flagship Counter-Strike league heads to the country. Previous Pro League seasons had only been held in Europe, the United States, and Brazil.

At the same time, ESL also revealed additional details about the tournament. Invitations to the event will be determined by the January VRS, seeding will be based on the February VRS, and a total of 16 teams will take part. Of those, 12 teams will receive global invites, while the other four spots will go to the winners of the regional divisions of ESL Challenger League Season 52 - Europe, North America, South America, and Asia-Oceania.

ESL has also increased the total prize pool of the tournament to $1.25 million, which is $250,000 more than in the previous season. However, the increase applies specifically to the club share of the prize pool, rather than player payouts.

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The news looks especially symbolic against the backdrop of Saudi-backed Savvy Games Group acquiring ESL FACEIT Group back in January 2022. Since then, ESL has already held major tournaments in Saudi Arabia, including events as part of the Esports World Cup in Riyadh.