Battle between ESL and B Site for CSGO’s top teams goes public

The CS:GO competitive scene experienced unprecedented turmoil when ESL unveiled its Season 11 Pro League invitations, confirming circulating rumors about relegating 24 established teams to Mountain Dew League.

What made this announcement particularly explosive was ESL’s failure to notify affected teams beforehand, triggering widespread anger and setting the stage for a weekend of intense controversy.

January 25th transformed Twitter into a digital warzone featuring CS:GO’s most prominent figures. While ESL’s initial tweet ignited the firestorm, the conflict quickly expanded to include North American competitor “B Site,” CSPPA representatives, and numerous professional players.

ESL

As Counter-Strike’s leading live event producer, ESL maintains significant influence through its management of seven out of sixteen Valve Majors, including prestigious tournaments like ESL One Cologne and IEM Katowice.

“B Site”

B Site represents a revolutionary approach to CS:GO leagues – team-owned and operated with a substantial $2 million buy-in requirement. Cloud9 and Immortals Gaming Company spearhead this initiative, with Cloud9 president Dan Fiden emerging as the project’s primary spokesperson.

Joining Fiden is prominent esports analyst Duncan “Thorin” Shields, who contributes as Producer, Content Creator, and on-air personality.

Counter-Strike Professional Players’ Association

The CSPPA (Counter-Strike Professional Players’ Association) focuses exclusively on improving working conditions for professional players. Established in 2018, the organization formed in direct response to player concerns about exclusive league ownership models.

BLAST Entertainment

Though not directly participating in the weekend’s events, BLAST Entertainment deserves mention as another influential tournament organizer. Having secured team commitments early for their BLAST Premier Spring Series, BLAST managed to avoid the escalating tensions between ESL and B Site.

At approximately 9 a.m. PST on Friday, ESL’s social media announcement confirmed the league had extended invitations to 24 teams while implementing a dramatic format restructuring.

The tweet verified circulating reports about ESL Pro League reducing from 48 to 24 teams. Initial confusion arose because many observers misinterpreted the invitation list as confirmed participants rather than prospective invitees.

The core controversy intensified when players from relegated teams discovered ESL hadn’t provided advance notification about the format changes. As community criticism mounted, B Site strategically authorized Thorin to announce a significant prize pool enhancement.

Thorin offered no clarification regarding the funding source for this additional prize money. With excluded teams facing substantial revenue losses, B Site’s financial incentive potentially offered compelling reasons for organizations to reconsider their ESL commitments.

Adding complexity to the situation, subsequent revelations indicated that none of the teams listed in ESL’s announcement had necessarily finalized contractual agreements.

In the conflict’s most significant development, Thorin – visibly representing B Site in Cloud9 apparel – released a video announcement detailing both the prize pool increase and B Site’s open qualifier system. This move appeared calculated to leverage Thorin’s influential status while encouraging relegated teams to transition from ESL to the new league.

Thorin explicitly stated this financial enhancement represented a new development, not part of B Site’s original planning.

“Through discussions with B Site project leadership and ownership representatives,” Thorin explained, “we’ve decided to supplement the prize purse for our global open qualifier, ensuring relegated teams maintain competitive incentives.”

Cloud9 president Dan Fiden further complicated matters by contacting Braxton “swag” Pierce, whose team faced relegation in ESL’s restructuring.

Fiden’s outreach could be interpreted either as supportive assistance or strategic talent acquisition.

By Saturday morning, most participants had withdrawn from the public dispute. Thorin removed his controversial tweets targeting various figures and issued a public apology, though maintaining his criticism of ESL’s handling of the situation.

The community remains largely uninformed about B Site’s specific plans. Available information primarily derives from Richard Lewis’ “By the Numbers” podcast featuring Fiden and Thorin, where both confirmed B Site involvement without specifying official roles.

Scheduling conflicts represent organizers’ primary method for circumventing Valve’s exclusivity restrictions. B Site’s limited public revelation indicated involvement from Cloud9 and MiBR, with scheduling deliberately overlapping ESL Pro League’s March 2020 start date.

This strategic scheduling creates what industry observers term “soft exclusivity” – while no contractual barriers prevent dual participation, conflicting dates make simultaneous involvement practically impossible.

This approach characterizes CS:GO’s ongoing tournament conflicts, where organizers compete for premier teams while potentially undermining competitors’ initiatives.

Meanwhile, BLAST Premier has successfully avoided similar conflicts through early team commitments and strategic scheduling. The organization appears positioned to monitor developments while preparing for its own Spring Series commencement.

No reproduction without permission：Games Guides Website » Battle between ESL and B Site for CSGO’s top teams goes public Understanding the ESL vs B Site conflict that reshaped CS:GO's competitive landscape and team dynamics