Flagship ESL event dates announced

This morning, ESL announced the dates for their premier $1,000,000 IEM Katowice 2023 and IEM Cologne 2023 LAN events, which are scheduled to take place between January 31th - February 12th, and July 25th - August 6th, respectively.

The dates are important as earlier this year, the CSPPA announced their 2023 summer break to be between June 12th and July 9th, as opposed to July 18th and August 14th. IEM Cologne will now start two weeks later compared to the 2022 version which began July 5th and IEM Katowice will begin two weeks earlier compared to the 2022 version which began February 15th.

In the decision by the CSPPA to move the summer break dates, they wanted to create a more event-season structure by splitting the year in half.

ESL also confirmed in their announcement that the two events would continue to be hosted by their iconic venues - IEM Katowice will be in the Spodek Arena for the 11th time and IEM Cologne will be in "The Cathedral" at the LANXESS Arena.

"It’s always an honor to invite fans back to two of the most recognizable esports events worldwide," commented Shaun Clark, Senior Director Game Ecosystems - CS:GO at ESL FACEIT Group. "We are already bubbling with excitement as we begin the annual planning to host two of the most passionate esports events," it continued.

Interested parties are also able to purchase early bird tickets here, which come at a staggering 42% discount.