ESL is the largest tournament organizer in Counter-Strike. The ESL Pro Tour is the official circuit that feeds every Major, and the English-language broadcast on ESLCS is the canonical way to watch CS2 esports. During peak events (IEM Katowice, IEM Rio, the Majors), the channel sits at 200K-1M concurrent viewers across all platforms.
What you get on the channel
- **Live broadcasts** of every ESL Pro Tour stop, in English, with a full desk (host + 2 analysts + 1 observer).
- **Pre-show and post-show coverage** — 30-60 minutes of analysis before the first match, recap after the last.
- **Studio segments** during the Major playoffs from the ESL studio in Cologne.
ESL Pro Tour 2026 schedule
The ESL Pro Tour runs year-round. The headline events for 2026 are:
- **IEM Katowice** (Jan–Feb) — the traditional season opener, 16 teams, $1M prize pool.
- **IEM Cologne** (Jul–Aug) — the second Major qualifier of the year.
- **ESL Pro League Season 22** (Sep–Oct) — 24-team league, runs 8 weeks.
- **IEM Rio** (Jul–Aug) — the South American stop, hosted in the Jeunesse Arena.
- **ESL One Birmingham** (Apr–May) — the only UK-based event on the circuit.
Regional broadcasts
ESL produces broadcasts in 14 languages. The English feed is the most-watched, but regional feeds (Portuguese, Russian, German, Polish, Spanish) are available on the regional channels — listed in the ESL Pro Tour app and on the ESL website.
When is the channel live?
- **Tournament days** (usually Thu–Sun during events): 6-12 hours of continuous broadcast, starting at 09:00 UTC.
- **Non-event weeks**: VODs, replays, talk shows, and the "ESL Rerun" classic match stream.