Renowned journalist Richard Lewis accused ESL and BLAST of unfair competition in his video. According to him, major teams are ignoring PGL tournaments due to unofficial agreements with ESL. This is happening amidst the overlap of two major tournaments: IEM Dallas and PGL Astana.

PGL tournaments offer a larger prize pool, yet top teams still choose ESL. Lewis suggests that this is due to pressure—ESL allegedly requires teams to coordinate their participation in other tournaments if dates overlap. This seems like an attempt to monopolize the esports calendar.

How ESL and BLAST are Squeezing the Market

The issue of boycotting PGL tournaments intensified after top teams chose IEM Dallas over PGL Astana, even though the latter offered a larger prize pool. Journalist Richard Lewis claims this is the result of unofficial agreements between ESL and leading organizations. According to him, ESL demands teams to coordinate their participation in other tournaments when dates overlap, effectively controlling where and when players can compete.

Additional pressure comes from the information environment: on Reddit, posts criticizing PGL receive approval, while attacks on ESL are often removed. Lewis sees this as a clear bias towards major operators. While Valve remains silent, ESL and BLAST are increasing their influence, and if the situation doesn't change, there might be no room left for independent organizers in the scene.

It is worth noting that Lewis has been working exclusively for PGL tournaments in recent years. He assures that he has no personal interests, but this fact is still important to consider for a full understanding and evaluation of the situation.

If the tournament market continues to shrink to just one or two operators, we may forget about the diversity of formats and new names. Without Valve's intervention and fair rules, the industry risks becoming a closed club where everything is decided behind the scenes—meaning both teams and viewers will lose out.