CS2 - ESL Pro League

In early November 2014, the German-based Electronic Sports League announced the creation of the ESL Pro League as the European ESL league. On April 28, 2015, ESL announced a joint venture with the North American-based E-Sports Entertainment Association League to provide a Counter-Strike: Global Offensive league with US$500,000 in total prize money in the first season between two continents. It later expanded to fourteen teams per region and raised its prize pool to US$1,000,000, with two seasons running each year. The prize pool increased once more in 2018, with ESL making the teams fight for $1,000,000 in the Finals, raising the season prize pool by $250,000. In addition, the number of teams in the finals rose to sixteen, with more teams from regions other than North American and Europe participating in the Finals.

On February 18, 2020, ESL would announce the Louvre Agreement, a revenue sharing partnership between ESL and the teams. Teams that signed on also qualified automatically for ESL Pro League as Permanent Partner Teams. The Louvre Agreement would expire at the end of 2024, as Valve, the game's developer, ended any form of partnership agreements within professional Counter-Strike in 2025.

In 2020, due to the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, seasons 11 and 12 did not have a global final, instead regional finals were held in Europe and North America. In 2021, starting from ESL Pro League Season 13, the organization announced a changed format, with one league replacing the four regional leagues that existed prior to the pandemic. All 24 teams would travel to Europe to participate in the league, with the top 12 teams of the 24-team regular season proceeding to the playoffs. With the consolidation of the tournament into one event, the prize pool was reduced to $750,000. During ESL Pro League seasons 17 and 18, the prize pool was increased to $850,000 as a result of increasing the number of teams from 24 to 32. This was reduced back to $750,000 for seasons 19 and 20.