Back in the fall, it was announced that after a long and tedious negotiation process, the list of ESL partners was expanded with three more teams. They were FURIA, BIG and Heroic. Cybersports organizations that are part of the «luwr agreement», receive a guaranteed opportunity to participate in all ESL Pro League seasons and also receive a portion of the profits from them. Thus, the number of ESL partner teams will reach fifteen in 2022.
Alexander Inglot, representative of ESL Pro League, gave an interview to HLTV, talking about the principles of team selection and the subtleties of the deal. In total, over forty teams applied for the agreement, but many of them were dropped due to not being high enough or simply having a weak presence on the cybersports scene in recent times. Attention is also paid to how teams promote themselves – how they communicate with fans, what infrastructure they have, how much attention their performances attract. Inglot mentioned that this list of criteria alone scared off a certain number of applicants.
The initial selection process left five applicants – FURIA, BIG and Heroic, as well as two other unnamed organizations. The final decision took into account not only how much money the teams could offer, but also their potential to bring additional attention to the game and reach new markets. Specifically, FURIA was chosen because its participation in the partnership will help support the development of cybersports in Brazil. Inglot also noted that the cap on the number of affiliate teams remains at 16, and there are no plans to raise that ceiling.