In light of the recent community conversations on the topic of teams participating in both IEM Dallas and PGL Astana, we feel best to address the topic openly and transparently.
2025 is a new landscape for the competitive Counter-Strike calendar and we are making our best efforts to try and accommodate where possible and when possible, so that teams and players are not going to miss out on opportunities to compete.
Preface
When we initially received questions from teams about participating in both IEM Dallas and PGL Astana, we communicated that we did not believe they would be able to play both events and make it to Dallas in time for the start of the tournament. This was based on travel pathways, timing assessments and other logistical considerations around the fact that PGL Astana ends on 18th of May and IEM Dallas will begin tournament play on 19th of May.
Since replying to the initial questions that it wouldn’t be possible to compete in both, other teams have worked on presenting a travel plan that would bring them to Dallas in time to play in the tournament. That travel plan is not ideal for any party involved, but after evaluating this information, we are allowing teams to play in both events.
We want to emphasize that this situation is not ideal for us, and as the second event, we are taking tremendous risk. In the situation of a flight delay, a forfeit is a likely outcome; tarnishing our event, leaving us with a large amount of sunk costs, and a loss of viewership. Despite this risk we are allowing this, in the spirit of supporting the transition to an open ecosystem, we hope to avoid this situation in the future.
Facts for IEM Dallas
In order of transparency, we’re listing out facts that pertain to specifics and how they will be dealt with.
Travel from Astana to Dallas
Teams participating in PGL Astana and exiting the tournament in either the group stage or quarter-finals, will be able to arrive in time for the designated arrival day for IEM Dallas. The designated arrival day is 17th of May.
Teams participating in PGL Astana and making the Top 4, will only be able to depart from Astana at 02:15AM on 19th of May. With a stopover in Istanbul, this will see teams arrive 12:45PM in Dallas on 19th of May. As a consequence of arriving late and missing media obligations, teams will be fined $4,000 and deducted 5% of their prize money winnings, in accordance with Counter-Strike General Rules 2025 point 4.8.1. The fine for not arriving on designated arrival day, as listed in point 4.7, is waived based on the exception granted due to the nature of attending another Tier 1 LAN event.
For avoidance of doubt, the teams are in coordination with PGL responsible for the flight between Astana and Dallas. We’re cooperating with PGL on the travel arrangements in the capacity that we will cost-share on the flight leg between Astana and Dallas for all teams participating in both tournaments.
Scheduling & Seeding
Tournament seeding will be done on 6th of May, matches will be determined but not assigned to a match time slot. The match time slot order will be determined and set on Friday 16th of May, once the quarter-finals in PGL Astana have been played.
In an effort to lower possible risks, we’ve opted to start the first tournament day 1 hour later than originally planned, while also being cautious of the possible end-of-day timing; this was the latest we would be comfortable with.
If one or two teams reach the Top 4 in PGL Astana and as such arrive on the first tournament day for IEM Dallas, then these two teams will be put in the last match slot of the day (7:00PM). If more than two teams reach the Top 4 in PGL Astana, teams will be assigned to the second to last slot (4.30PM) and last slot (7:00PM) of the day. The assignment of slots will be determined by a coin flip in order to provide identical treatment for all teams.
Forfeit scenarios
Teams are required to be on site and in the designated tournament area 50 minutes before their assigned match start time, penalties for being late will be issued in accordance with Counter-Strike General Rules 2025 point 2.15.4.
First map of the match will be forfeited 15 minutes after the assigned start time of the match, the entire match will be forfeited 30 minutes after the assigned start time, in accordance with Counter-Strike General Rules 2025 point 2.15.6.
In the case of forfeit, teams will drop to the lower-bracket of their designated group, and the above forfeit scenarios will be in effect once more for their next match the following day.
Going forward
As the overall ecosystem is adjusting, we are going to further adjust our rules for clarity around situations like this by updating Counter-Strike General Rules 2025 point 4.7 (see below). If teams petition us, they may arrive later than the designated arrival day (ie, on the media day), due to their attendance in another Tier 1 LAN. We will review those requests and any requests that would require even further flexibility, such as arriving on the actual day of the tournament, as the case with Astana-Dallas, on a case-by-case situation. There is a great amount of risk for all parties involved, we do not expect to approve all requests, but will make sure teams have the opportunity to present a well-thought-out proposal for travel arrangements and timings as the baseline for our review.
We are actively discussing options with other tournament organizers to enable teams to participate in other VRS eligible tournaments as much as possible, where the timing between tournaments is tight. This is also relevant for the upcoming YaLLa Compass Qatar and IEM Melbourne tournaments, where some teams are opting to participate in both.
We’ll be mindful of engaging with others once we identify potential situations and we encourage any other Tier 1 tournament organizers to reach out to us when situations like this look likely to occur from their point-of-view, so that together we can minimize the overall impact towards teams who wish to participate in all events.
Rule update
Below you will find a detailed breakdown of Rulebook changes where
Green text shows what has been added to the rulebook
4.7 Arrival day
Participants must arrive at the player hotel by the date designated as the Arrival Date by ESL. Where a participant refuses to arrive on that date, a minimum fine of $2,000 will be given, increasing based on the disruption caused to any scheduled activities for the
participant. In cases where ESL deems the reasoning for a delayed arrival to be unacceptable, disqualification and replacement of the participant will be possible. Fines will not be given in the case of delayed travel due to circumstances beyond the control of the participant, nor when a participant lives locally and is not staying at the player hotel.
Participants may request an exception via email to arrive on Media Day instead if their scheduled participation in another Tier 1 LAN event conflicts with the designated Arrival Date. However, such exceptions will only be granted if the overall number of requests does not compromise the integrity of the event. Additionally, ESL reserves the right to approve alternative arrival on the first day of the tournament, provided that travel logistics, timing assessments, and other operational considerations align. All requests will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis. Participants approved for an alternative arrival date will be responsible for covering any additional travel costs incurred due to the schedule change.
