ESL’s new partnership with Kick will see the Challenger League go exclusive

Michael Hassall Published April 14, 2026

Tournament organizer ESL FACEIT Group has announced a new partnership with streaming platform Kick as it reveals Intel Extreme Masters Rio and upcoming ESL Pro Tour events will now be broadcast on the site.

From Monday, April 13, Intel Extreme Masters Rio was broadcast on ESL’s official Kick channel. The organizer, whose broadcasts also feature on Twitch and YouTube, for the first time will have an official broadcast on the Kick platform.

Additionally, the ESL Challenge League will become a Kick exclusive. From next season the ECL, a feeder league for the ESL Pro League, will only be available to watch on Kick, marking a dramatic move away from Twitch and YouTube for the event.

ESL announces partnership with KICK with IEM Rio to feature on the platform

As mentioned, IEM Rio will be the first event to feature officially on the platform. During the event, 16 of the world’s best CS2 teams will battle to carve out their share of a $1,000,000 prize pool.

As per the release:

“IEM Rio will also serve as a decisive moment in the race for the ESL Grand Slam VI and an additional $1,000,000, with Team Vitality being one victory away from becoming the first team in history to win two ESL Grand Slam titles consecutively.”

ESL FACEIT Group also confirmed that future IEM and EPT events will be broadcast on Kick, including Dota 2 and Counter-Strike 2 tournaments.

ESL Challenger League goes exclusive to Kick

Beyond the above partnership, Kick will become the exclusive home of the ESL Challenger League.

The ECL competition gives challengers a pathway to championship status and a coveted invitation to the next season of ESL Pro League.

Fans eager to enjoy the high-stakes matches will now be able to experience the action at kick.com/eslcs from next season.

Overall the move seems geared to drive viewership towards ESL FACEIT Group’s expanding number of tournaments and events. Recent weeks have seen the company modify its rules on co-streaming, which drew some ire from the community for its insistence on co-streamers not skipping any of the broadcast.

Historically, exclusivity deals for streaming have been a murky subject, with past notable example, Blizzard’s 2020 exclusivity deal with Google and YouTube, seen widely as one of many reasons for the company’s decline in the esports space.

However, ESL, arguably the biggest esports tournament operator in the world, have only given over a small part of their larger portfolio, to a company that likely paid handsomely for the privilege.

Stick with Esportsbetting.com for more CS2 info and guides.

Featured Image Credit: ESL FACEIT Group