'ELeague' Reveals Regular Season Schedule And Tournament Format For TBS Debut

Turner Sports' "ELeague," the first multiweek eSports tournament airing live on television, revealed its regular season format Thursday. The 24 teams will compete in a tournament format with pools of four teams looking to advance out of group play to the playoffs. Teams featured every Friday on TBS will be competing for a chance to qualify to the next round.

"Whether you’re a longtime fan or new to eSports, each week of 'ELeague' will feature compelling storylines as the top CS:GO ['Counter-Strike: Global Offensive'] teams in the world compete to earn a spot in the playoffs," Min-Sik Ko, 'ELeague' commissioner, said in a statement. Turner Sports revealed the first first three weeks of its schedule ahead of the May 24 premiere.

Cloud9, Liquid, Luminosity Gaming and Renegades will be the first four teams competing to advance to the playoffs. The four teams are very familiar with one another as they currently are competing in the ESL Pro League in the North American division. Luminosity is atop the division having won 18 of 22 matches. Cloud9 is in second place with Liquid in fourth and Renegades in seventh place in the 12-team bracket. Luminosity is currently on a four-match winning streak that propelled them to the top of GosuGamers' rankings of the best teams in the world.

Beginning May 24, the four teams will play one another twice, with each victory worth one point. After two days of matches, teams will be ranked based on the number of points with the first place team playing the fourth place team. The second place team will compete against the third place team. Winners will advance to play Friday on TBS, beginning at 10 p.m. EDT. Friday's winner will advance to the playoffs while the runner-up will play in a "Last Chance Qualifier" round.

The second sees G2 eSports, Ninjas in Pyjamas, Optic and TyLoo competing to advance to the playoffs. Astralis, Counter Logic Gaming (CLG), NRG and SK Gaming play the week of June 6. Top European team Ninjas in Pyjamas and Astralis along with North American team Optic are among the standouts. Fnatic, Na'vi, Dignitas and Mouseesports are among the teams that will be competing at a later date.