Why FURIA, BIG and Heroic joined the EPL

When ESL and 13 founding teams in the ESL Pro League announced the "Louvre Agreement" almost two years ago, it was seen by many fans as a way to franchise the CS:GO landscape.

Time has proved them wrong, and today the ESL Pro League allow more teams than ever before the chance to play against the world's best.

In the beginning of 2021, when 100 Thieves pulled out of CS:GO and pivoted their FPS-investment to Valorant, EPL Commissioner, Alexander Inglot, started a new application process to add one or more teams to the agreement.

With the inclusion of BIG, FURIA and Heroic earlier in the year, that process finished and the Louvre Agreement now has 15 participants. Recently Inglot and Heroic's CEO, Joachim Haraldsen, sat down with HLTV.org to discuss the process.

The interview gives a rare glimpse into the inner workings of CS:GO business, and the deciding factors in entering elite-level esports franchises.

We've gathered the most interesting tidbits below, 'cause ain't nobody got time to read a HLTV article:

• 40 teams applied, but when Inglot let the teams know that a minimum investment of $3M was required, the field shrank to 10 organizations
• The organizations had to check several boxes, including performance legacy, market forecasts, a clear vision and explanations on their investments in personnel and infrastructure
• In the end there were only 5 teams left: BIG, FURIA, Heroic and two that are still unnamed
• ESL didn't conciously remove any CIS teams from the process and Inglot is quoted saying "Ultimately, I can't force Gambit to bid or to be in the process", suggesting that they either didn't apply or couldn't fund the fee
• FURIA, BIG and Heroic were picked in part because they help ESL plug gaps in their demographics: FURIA in Brazil and North America, BIG giving ESL a big German presence, and Heroic is touted as a Norwegian organization despite their Danish roster

The whole interview is very interesting (but also long), and touches on, among other things, on why the HUNDEN drama didn't influence ESL's decision about Heroic. In case you want another dose of that.