ESL has concluded the first season of the Annual Club Incentive program: by the end of the year, the 16 most media-savvy clubs will share $2.95 million, with the standout being Team Falcons, who took the top prize of $407,422. 

How the Program Works

The Annual Club Incentive fund for 2025 is set at $2.95 million, distributed among the top 16 clubs proportionally to their share of points among the top 16. Points are calculated using a formula that considers points earned from viewership and the number of ESL Pro Tour tournaments the club participated in throughout the season.

Final Top 16 and Payouts

In the final rankings on December 8, Team Falcons secured first place with 74.5 viewership points and participation in seven events, earning 13.8% of the pool — $407,422. Mongolian fans pushed The MongolZ to the second spot (54 points, 10%, and approximately $295,313), with FURIA rounding out the top three. The top 8 also included Natus Vincere, Vitality, MOUZ, G2, and Spirit, while the lower part of the list featured FaZe, Liquid, 3DMAX, HEROIC, paiN, Astralis, Virtus.pro, and Aurora.

ESL has already announced that the Annual Club Incentive payouts for 2025 will occur in the first quarter of 2026, after which the counters will reset. The new season will kick off with IEM Kraków, scheduled from January 28 to February 8, 2026, at the TAURON Arena, marking the first major venue for point accumulation in the renewed race for the multi-million dollar fund.