ESL silently rebrands Intel Grand Slam; refuses to say why
In early March following the conclusion of ESL Pro League Season 21, eagle-eyed viewers noticed that ESL had silently changed the branding of their $1,000,000 Intel Grand Slam series to the "ESL Grand Slam", seemingly removing the marquee sponsor from its prominent position eight years after the branded partnership initially began.
Initially this change was only present on social media, however ESL quickly worked to scrub all references to the Intel Grand Slam Season 5, the current season, from their website while also retroactively reclassifying previous seasons of the Intel Grand Slam as ESL Grand Slams.
This change in branding comes despite ESL and Intel recently penning a new sponsorship deal in early February that prominently featured the Intel Grand Slam. Additionally, the IGS branding was still in use as recently as IEM Katowice 2025, which ended on February 9th, suggesting the change came suddenly within ESL FACEIT Group.
Dust2.us reached out to ESL on March 16th regarding the brand change. We asked the following questions:
With the Intel name being removed from the EGS, will Intel not be involved with the Grand Slam anymore?
As Intel was the primary supporter of IGS/EGS, will the GS continue beyond the currently running season (Season 5)?
If the GS is not ending after Season 5, is a new sponsor planned for future seasons?
EFG and Intel recently signed a new agreement in early 2025, was the IGS not part of this continued sponsorship deal?
After a lengthy delay, ESL responded to our request on March 21st with the following statement:
ESL Grand Slam will continue to be the race for teams to mark their era in the Counter-Strike history books, with the fifth season currently running.
More than 7 years ago, this iconic accolade was launched together with our strategic partner Intel and has celebrated legendary runs by Astralis, Team Liquid, Natus Vincere and FaZe Clan since, all claiming their $1,000,000 and the coveted gold bars.
Our partners remain committed to premier Counter-Strike esports through their support of the Intel Extreme Masters series. As part of our $11 million allocation to Counter-Strike esports in 2025 and 2026, we look forward to the continuation of the ESL Grand Slam and celebrating one of the game’s most coveted achievements.
ESL's statement unfortunately fails to answer any of Dust2.us' questions, with ESL only stating that the "ESL Grand Slam" is set to continue running throughout the remainder of 2025 and into 2026. However, this crumb also lacks detail as it does not outright confirm whether the "ESL Grand Slam" will continue beyond Season 5.
Considering the current standings in Season 5 of the Intel/ESL Grand Slam it is not outside the realm of possibility that this current season extends into 2026, especially if Vitality stumbles heading into the second half of the year.
With ESL's statement giving very little to go on, it is within the realm of possibility that Season 5 will be the final season of the "ESL Grand Slam", marking the end of the eight-year series of tournaments that helped to define eras in Counter-Strike.
While we may never know why the rebrand came so suddenly, a potential theory is that declining fortunes within Intel forced the technology company to scale back their esports advertising budget, leading to them dropping the Intel Grand Slam from their ad portfolio. Lending credence to this theory is the decline of Intel's stock price, with Intel stock losing 42% of its value year-to-date and 53% of its value over the past five years.
Another angle is that with ESL's dominance in the CS2 esports space being challenged by Valve's Tournament Operating Requirements and the return to TOs like PGL and StarLadder. With the scene now split between multiple TOs, products like the Intel Grand Slam may no longer be viewed as lucratively by sponsors especially as ESL's iron grip over the esport's top teams via the Louvre Agreement has been shattered.
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