After an interesting first season for TBS’ ELEAGUE, with questions over viewing figures and controversies over disqualification, the second season of the $1.4m (£1.08m) televised league is set to come out with a bang.
The new season of ELEAGUE sees the format reduce the amount of teams from 24 down to 16 and the groups turned into a traditional GSL-style format. The league curated its list of teams by bringing together the top eight teams from the first season and bringing in the remaining eight from the preliminaries held in Europe and North America.
The seeding system seems to match the way teams are seeded in Valve-sponsored majors, as they’re split between the invited and qualifying teams. This in turn, creates groups like Group C and B, creating insanely stacked groups that’ll make for interesting viewing for those that watch.
SK and Natus`Vincere once again face off in the group stages, a now familiar match-up which will see if the side s1mple has recently joined can finally best the Brazilians. Virtus.pro see themselves in a group they should realistically qualify from, but NiP and G2 once again see themselves battling. Fnatic’s new roster also make an appearance – will they be as explosive as their former team?
The league kicks off from TBS’ Atlanta studios on October 21st, with the games being streamed on a mix of Twitch and TV (In the USA, on TBS). Assumedly, the games will also be broadcast in the UK on GINX eSports TV, a channel which has recently seen new investment. The grand finals will take place on December 3rd, with more details being provided by TBS nearer the time.
Esports Insider says: Once again CS:GO graces TV with its presence and with the first season showing that it wasn’t as bad as CGS was back in 2007/8, can the second improve the ratings the show received?