ESL set to launch South American ECL

Amidst the flurry of updates in ESL's 2024 EPT update, the tournament organizer announced their intentions to launch a South American ESL Challenger league that is set to run alongside the North American, European, Asian, and relaunched Australian divisions.

The creation of a South American ECL league comes after years of ESL trying different strategies to capitalize on the large Brazilian and growing South American CS regions, with previous efforts focusing on ESEA Open divisions in Brazil and Latin America, and the Brasil Premier League, which was recently announced to be closing its doors.

While it seems fairly obvious in hindsight that making a South American ECL division is an effective way to engage with the region, it is worth noting that ESL has historically faced heavy competition in the region with the likes of CBCS, RedZone, CCT, and Gamers Club having a strong hold on the calendar. Additionally, with a number of top Brazilian teams playing in North America, creating a league for the remaining teams may have felt like a dubious effort to ESL.

The main upside and draw for teams to play in this league is the fact that each season should grant one or two ESL Pro League spots, like the other ECL regions, giving Brazil/South America more inroads into LAN events. Additionally, it should grant a healthy amount of ESL World Ranking points, helping to accomplish the same fact. This will likely do much to assuage Brazil's most fanatic supporters like Luis "peacemaker" Tadeu who had previously lambasted ESL for giving, what he felt, was too many opportunities to North America over South America.