ESL FACEIT Group (EFG) has announced significant changes to the ESL Pro Tour 2025, providing new details on the prize pool distribution, the annual club incentive program and team selection dates. The key innovations are the increase in prize money for the IEM Katowice and IEM Cologne tournaments and the introduction of the Annual Club Incentive, which aims to ensure the stability of the Counter-Strike ecosystem.

New prize pool structure

Starting in 2025, ESL Pro Tour prize money will be divided into players and clubs. This innovation is aimed at creating a stable environment where clubs can support players with a competitive base salary and organizational structure.

• IEM Katowice and IEM Cologne will have an increased prize pool of $1.25 million, where $1 million will go to players and $250 thousand to clubs.

The other five events will have a prize pool of $1 million with the following distribution:

• IEM Dallas, Spring, Chengdu: $300,000 for players, $700,000 for clubs.

• ESL Pro League S21 and S22: $400,000 for players, $600,000 for clubs.

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Annual Club Incentive - support for clubs

EFG is introducing the Annual Club Incentive, a program that will reward clubs for their contributions to the ESL Pro Tour through tournament participation, viewership and promotional activities.

Key details:

• The total program fund for 2025 is $2.95 million.

Club contribution calculation: Club Contribution = V x N, where:

• V is the amount of points for views from all EPT tournaments.

• N is the number of clubs' participation in EPT tournaments.

Particular emphasis will be placed on long-running events like the ESL Pro League, as well as tournaments outside of Europe (IEM Dallas and IEM Chengdu), which will receive more viewership points.

ESL Pro Tour 2025 calendar

• In 2025, the ESL Pro Tour will include seven main events, including:

• IEM Katowice 2025 - January 29 - February 9, Poland.

• ESL Pro League S21 - March 1-16, Sweden.

• IEM Spring 2025 - April 21-27.

• IEM Dallas 2025 - May 19-25, USA.

• IEM Cologne 2025 - July 23 - August 3, Germany.

• ESL Pro League S22 - September 27 - October 12, Europe.

• IEM Chengdu 2025 - November 3-9, China.

Qualifying dates for EPT tournaments

Teams will receive entries based on Valve Regional Standings:

• IEM Katowice 2025 - January 2025.

• ESL Pro League S21 - January 2025.

• IEM Spring 2025 - February 2025.

• IEM Dallas 2025 - February 2025.

• IEM Cologne 2025 - June 2025.

• ESL Pro League S22 - July 2025.

• IEM Chengdu 2025 - August 2025.

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Final summary.

The changes to the ESL Pro Tour 2025 are aimed at increasing the stability of clubs and players, as well as developing the competitive scene. The distribution of prize money and the introduction of the Annual Club Incentive will provide more financial support for teams and organizations. The EPT tournaments will continue to be the main events of the season, and the increased prize pools for IEM Katowice and Cologne emphasize their exceptional importance.

Source: ESL