Electronic Sports League

The Electronic Sports League (ESL, formerly ESPL) is an eSports league, which is operated by Turtle Entertainment in Cologne, Germany. Today it has more than 5,000,000 registered members and consists of over 1,000,000 teams, which have played over 22.5 million games in addition to leagues, tournaments and VERSUS, the ESL's own online matchmaking. The ESL supports over 50 games in different genres through various national and international leagues. Games are usually broadcast via Twitch.tv, or played publicly at conventions such as Gamescom or CeBIT. ESL also operates the Intel Extreme Masters world championships.

History

ESL was founded in 1997 as Deutsche Clanliga (DeCL) by today's CEO, Ralf Reichert, and members of SK Gaming. It was renamed in 2000, making it the oldest league of its kind in the world. In July 2015, Modern Times Group (MTG) bought a majority share within Turtle Entertainment for $86 million.

Until June 2015, the Electronic Sports League was operated by the German company Turtle Entertainment GmbH, headquartered in Cologne. The main sources of income are sponsorship revenue, online advertising, merchandising and international licensing business. Licenses to operate their own national branches of ESL are assigned to partners from across Europe.

Dota 2

Dota 2 is a free-to-play multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) video game developed and published by Valve Corporation. The game was released for Microsoft Windows, OS X, and Linux in July 2013, following a Windows-only public beta testing phase that began in 2011, and is the stand-alone sequel to Defense of the Ancients (DotA), a mod for Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos and its expansion pack, The Frozen Throne. Dota 2 is one of the most actively played games on Steam, with maximum peaks of over a million concurrent players.

Dota 2 is played in matches between two five-player teams, each of which occupies a stronghold in a corner of the playing field. A team wins by destroying the other side's "Ancient" building, located within the opposing stronghold. Each player controls one of 111 playable "Hero" characters that feature unique powers and styles of play. During a match, the player collects gold, items, and experience points for their Hero, while combating Heroes of the opposite team.

English as a second or foreign language

English as a second or foreign language is the use of English by speakers with different native languages. Instruction for English-language learners may be known as English as a second language (ESL), English as a foreign language (EFL), English as an additional language (EAL), or English for speakers of other languages (ESOL).

English as a second language (ESL) is often used for non-native English speakers learning English in a country where English is commonly spoken. English as a foreign language (EFL) is used for non-native English speakers learning English in a country where English is not commonly spoken. The term ESL has been misinterpreted by some to indicate that English would be of secondary importance. However, it simply refers to the order in which the language was learned, consistent with the linguistic terminology of second-language acquisition. The term ESL can be a misnomer for some students who have learned several languages before learning English. The terms English Language Learners (ELL), and more recently English Learners (EL), have been used instead, and the students’ home language and cultures are considered important.

Pro League

Pro League may refer to various association football leagues:

Grand final

A Grand final is a game that decides a sports league's championship (or premiership) winning team, i.e. the conclusive game of a finals (or play-off) series. Synonymous with a championship game in North American sports, grand finals have become a significant part of Australian culture. The earliest competitions to feature a Grand final were Australia's AFL (Australian rules football) and NRL (rugby league football). They influenced other competitions such as soccer's A-League, the National Basketball League, netball's ANZ Championship and European rugby league's Super League to adopt grand finals as well. Most grand finals involve a prestigious award for the player voted best on field.

History

The Anglo-Norman term "grand" to describe a sporting event, documented in England as "grand match" in 1836, was used in Australia from the 1850s. A steeplechase in England has been called the "Grand National Steeple Chase" ("Grand National" alone for short) since at least 1839.

Use of the term in Australian Football dates back to the first organised and widely publicised match between Melbourne Grammar School and Scotch College on August 7, 1858 at Yarra Park, Melbourne (formerly Richmond Park). The game was advertised as the "grand football match" in the Melbourne Morning Herald and several other local newspapers.