Alex Inglot has been the Commissioner of the ESL Pro League since August 2021. He took over during a very unpredictable and unsettling time in the world of esports. Despite these potential issues, ESL, EFG and Counter-strike itself have been having something of a renaissance in recent years. With an ever growing fanbase, more and more locations around the world are seeking to host Counter-strike events. We got the chance to speak to Alex during IEM Cologne 2023 about the EPL, IEM partner cities and the future of Counter-strike.
From Traditional Sport Beginnings
Alex Inglot got his start in traditional sports, eventually becoming a board direction for the ATP. Here, he worked on the men’s tennis tour and primarily looked after the interests of the players. Tennis is unique in the world of sports in that there is a clear separation between the players and the tournament organizers themselves. This allowed Alex to build a unique skillset that perfectly positioned him for his work with the EPL.
“I watched esports for the first time in 2016, here in Cologne for the ESL One. I had a friend from SportRadar who told me I needed to check it out. I came and my mind was blown by an industry that had completely passed me by.”
In fact, it was local esports team Fnatic that learned of his skillset and put him forward for the new position of Commissioner. Things weren’t exactly smooth sailing at first though. As he took over during the Covid 19 pandemic that resulted in global shut downs of esports events and more, there were many challenges to building CS:GO and the EPL itself.
As CS Grows, So Does the EPL
Along with such a huge growth in the popularity of CS:GO that saw the highest number of concurrent viewers in May 2023, the EPL is growing to meet the demand. Loyalty plays a huge role in the selection process of partner cities. This is something that Alex Inglot and ESL have never been secretive about.
“Those host cities started off when it was a bit of a punt and people weren’t entirely sure where this was going to go, whether this was going to take off, whether there would be enough viewership, were people going to come, would people travel? And so, I think ESL, if nothing else, is a really loyal company to those who are willing to take the risk with them in the beginning. That’s why you see this longevity with Katowice and Cologne.”
CS:GO has always been an international game. There have been IEM events in the USA, Brazil, Australia and China as well as across Europe. This is certainly something that the EPL aims to continue as the game develops in the next few years.
A New Host City Partnership Team for EPL
As the industry has grown, the EPL has worked to accommodate those changes. Alex Inglot told us of the newly revamped Host City Partnership team at the EPL and how their work helps to build closer relationships with the cities hoping to host CS events.
“I think there are misconceptions all over the place in esports and esports hosting that you can either host at the Lanxess or have nothing. But there’s a whole spectrum of events in size and in audience, in tier and in title. There’s something for everyone in terms of cities and regions.”
Building bespoke relationships is the name of the game at a global level for the EPL. It seems almost every region from North and South America, Europe, Asia and the Middle East have been looking to get in on the action. While the locations for future events haven’t been confirmed, Alex does think that another event in China is just over the horizon.
“It’s not an accident that we were in Beijing a few years back. It was part of a strategy to really unlock the opportunity in Asia and in China. For obvious reasons, because of Covid, that had to be stopped or at least severely curtailed but now that China is opening up and we’re seeing tennis events are going there and all of these things, they’re reopening for business so to speak.”
Source: ESL
Counter-strike 2: It’s only a matter of time
We may now be deep in the realm of Valve time but Counter-strike 2 is coming. When it comes to how this new iteration will change the ecosystem of professional Counter-strike going forwards, it looks like there’s nothing to worry about.
“It’s not being changed, it’s being refreshed. Yes, there’s a bit of change to the gameplay with the smokes and we obviously don’t know fully because the process may not be finalized but I don’t envision there being some fundamental game breaking change beyond those smokes. I think they were put out first to allow people to really acclimatize to what may well be the most disruptive change. But the point is that almost everything else is the same.”
One key point that the announcement of CS2 has confirmed is that Valve has not forgotten about Counter-strike. Far from it, in fact. CS has always been a priority and CS2 has been a long time in the making. As for the game itself, many including Alex Inglot, don’t think this will mean any huge changes to the professional year. That’s not to say everything will be the same, but the changes that are coming are not of the monumental scale that some have speculated.
“I’m bullish but not to a point that we’re now going to save Counter-strike. Counter-strike never needed saving. But I definitely feel there’s going to be a level up and it’s going to be great for the ecosystem.”
Read next: Sjokz at IEM Cologne: “I lost my heart to Cologne“
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