ESL Pro League Season 20 schedule, format revealed

The ESL Pro League on Thursday announced its Season 20 schedule, which runs Sept. 3-22 in St. Julian's, Malta, with 32 teams competing for a share of a $750,000 prize pool.

The winner of the event will also pick up a win in the Intel Grand Slam V race and land a spot in the first ESL Pro Tour Championship of 2025.

The group stage will be Sept. 3-16, with players from around the world attempting to advance to the playoff stage. The 32 teams will be split into four groups and will compete in a triple-elimination bracket, with each match a best-of-three format. The top four teams from each group will move into the playoff bracket.

The group stage will be held Sept. 3-8 for Groups A and B, followed by Groups C and D Sept. 10-15.

The playoffs, which will run from Sept. 17-21, will see the 16 best teams face off in best-of-three matches in the single elimination bracket.

This all leads up to the grand final on Sept. 22, with the top two teams facing off in a best-of-five series. The winner will receive $170,000 and be crowned ESL Pro Season 20 champion, along with qualifying for the first ESL Pro Tour Championship of 2025.

Seasons 18 and 19 champion MOUZ will attempt to become the first team to win three straight EPL tournaments.

Also slated to compete will be Astralis, BIG, Complexity Gaming, ENCE, FaZe Clan, Fnatic, FURIA Esports, G2 Esports, HEROIC, Natus Vincere, Ninjas in Pyjamas, Team Liquid, Team Vitality, MIBR, Team Falcons, Sangal Esports, KOI, M80, Wildcard Gaming, Lynn Vision Gaming, ATOX Esports, Imperial Esports, RED Canids, FlyQuest, Rooster, 3DMAX, Team Spirit, Virtus.pro, The MongolZ, 9z Globant and Eternal Fire.

The second-place team will receive $80,000, while the third- and fourth-place teams will receive $45,000 each. The fifth- through eighth-place teams will receive $32,000 apiece, while the ninth- through 12th-place teams will each get $23,500.

The teams finishing 13th-16th will each receive $17,500, while the teams in 17th-20th place will get $12,000 each. For the teams in 21st-28th place, each will receive $7,000. The last four teams will win $3,500 each.

--Field Level Media