ESL Pro League S24 goes full LAN in Katowice
ESL Pro League will be returning to an arena in 2026, as confirmed by ESL in a recent announcement. Moreover, Season 24 will be hosted entirely on LAN in Katowice's Spodek Arena.
The season will now feature 16 teams instead of 32, competing in a Swiss format with all matches Bo3 except for the Finals which will be a Bo5. The changes will shorten the tournament span to two weeks, which used to be three earlier.
ESL had earlier announced Season 23 to be hosted as a LAN event, which will have two stages. But with these changes in effect, Season 24 will be reduced to a single stage. ESL has also revealed that these changes will only apply to Season 24 for now, as ESL continues to explore more options while considering feedback from teams.
Key Dates
Group Stage (LAN):
Media: Oct 2
Matches: Oct 3–7
Playoffs (LAN):
Media: Oct 8
Matches: Oct 9–11
Invitations
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12× Global VRS Invites (top 1–12 in rankings)
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4× ESL Challenger League S51 winners (EU, NA, SA, Asia)
Invite list based on August 2026 VRS; seeding based on September 2026 VRS
Players banned by ESL/FACEIT/ESIC cannot be invited
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