ESL unveils 2026 event calendar

Six events are being planned for 2026, with a noteworthy gap on the calendar fueling speculation about an ESL-run Major.

ESL has announced the first details about its 2026 competitive calendar, which includes six LAN events between January and November.

In theory, this means ESL will run one tournament fewer than in 2025, though fans will quickly notice the huge gap on the calendar between May and September. This will certainly lead to speculation that the as-yet unannounced 2026 IEM Cologne, an event that is normally held in late July or early August, could be a Major.

The 2026 Summer Major is scheduled to take place between June 8-21, as HLTV reported last year, thought these dates are still subject to change following the expansion of Majors to 32 teams.

Below you can find the dates that ESL has already locked in for 2026:

ESL Event #1: January 27-February 8
ESL Event #2: February 23-March 15
ESL Event #3: April 12-19
ESL Event #4: May 10-17
ESL Event #5: September 21-October 11
ESL Event #6: November 1-8

Read more

Club financial incentives introduced as ESL reveals more EPT details

ESL is now the fourth tournament organizer to reveal their event dates for 2026 after PGL, BLAST and StarLadder. The Romanian company has also already disclosed the host cities of four of the six events that it will run that year (Cluj-Napoca, Bucharest, Astana and Belgrade).

ESL's 2025 circuit will kick off on January 29 with IEM Katowice. Earlier this week, the company announced more details about the future of the ESL Pro Tour, including the introduction of the Annual Club Incentive and a new prize money structure that is aimed at providing more financial benefits to organizations.