ESL to open broadcasting registration for ESL Rio Major qualifiers, set to stream rest of Katowice qualifiers

CS:GO fans will be able to sit back, relax, and watch high-quality games during the offseason, courtesy of ESL. 

Some of the biggest personalities on Twitch and other streaming services will be granted permission to broadcast the qualifiers of the Rio Major, the biggest CS:GO event of the year so far, ESL announced today. Similarly, ESL has secured English broadcasts for the rest of the IEM Katowice qualifiers. 

ESL will publish the application process closer to the event. The qualifiers begin on Jan. 31 with the 16-team European Minor open qualifier. 

ESL recently came under fire for not securing broadcasts during the ongoing IEM Katowice North American closed qualifiers. This event features Cloud9, one of the largest organizations in esports, MIBR, one of the best teams in Brazil, and Complexity, a new European-North American mix. 

This affected communities across regions. Fans in Brazil couldn’t watch their favorite teams, such as FURIA, MIBR, or INTZ, since IPs weren’t made available. Brazilian caster and streamer Alexandre “gaules” Borba resorted to streaming the HLTV scorebot. 

During the early stages of the qualifier yesterday that featured matches such as Gen.G vs Complexity, some fans had to resort to using a Chinese stream that had access to the IPs. 

But it looks like the CS:GO community will now be able to enjoy some important matches during the offseason. The winning team from the IEM Katowice qualifier earns a spot at the event, which takes place from Feb. 25 to March 1.