The ESL Pro League Season 23 Finals will award the winning CS2 esports team with a point toward the ESL Grand Slam.
ESL FACEIT Group (EFG) has announced that the ESL Pro League (EPL) Season 23 Finals event will return to Stockholm, Sweden in 2026. This Counter-Strike 2 (CS2) esports competition will be a culmination of the season and feature the top teams duking it out live at the Annexet venue. The goal? A point toward the ESL Grand Slam, which features a prize of $1,000,000!
ESL Pro League Season 23 Finals
The EPL Season 23 Finals will begin on March 13 and conclude on March 15. A total of eight teams will kick off the esports action under a single-elimination format. All of the matches will be best-of-three (Bo3) ones, however, the grand final will be a best-of-five (Bo5).
In terms of the prize pool, the lion's share of $275,000 will be on the line. CS2 teams will also compete for the EPL Season 23 trophy plus a coveted point toward the ESL Grand Slam.
What's the ESL Grand Slam?
The ESL Grand Slam refers to a prize of $1,000,000. It's only reward to the first CS2 team that claims victory in four S-tier tournaments. Since the EPL Season 23 Finals event is in this tier, players will be giving it their all.
At the time of writing this article, three teams have earned points so far. These include Team Vitality's wins at Intel Extreme Masters (IEM) Dallas 2025 and the EPL Season 22 Finals, Team Spirit's victory at IEM Cologne 2025, and FURIA's win at IEM Chengdu 2025.
EPL returns to Stockholm
What's also exciting about the EPL Season 23 Finals event is the return to Stockholm. The event will unite fans for the first time since 2019, and given Stockholm's long history with the CS franchise, the location makes sense.
As for the leadup to the EPL Season 23 Finals, the esports action will begin on Feb. 27 with 24 CS2 teams. Stage 1 and Stage 2 will happen online before everything comes to a head in Stockholm.
ESL Pro League Season 24 heads to Katowice
Earlier this year, EFG also revealed the location of the EPL Season 24 Finals. This event will happen in the Spodek Arena in Katowice, Poland between Oct. 9 and Oct. 11.
That's all for now. Stick around on esports.gg for more CS2 news and updates.
