Electronic Sports League (ESL) has announced their expansion into the United States of America. ESL is the league behind Extreme Masters, WC3L, and the ESL Pro and Major Series which are the main stays of European eSports competition. Also, their Aequitas anti-cheat has ensured that their ladders and leagues stay cheat free.

ESL America will open with Counter-Strike 1.6, World of Warcraft and Bomberman Online. Also teams have the chance to qualify for the Intel Extreme Masters Season III.

Jens Hilgers, the founder of Turtle Entertainment (the company behind ESL), had the following to say on ESL America's first news post:

"eSports has a long history in the United States, backed by a huge audience of gamers. We believe that now is the perfect time for us to make our move into the US market. We will launch the full set of features and tournaments step by step over the next few months. Furthermore we will connect ESL America to our international tournament structure. Live events and video coverage are an essential part of our strategy and will not to be missed."

Below are the details about how to qualify for the Extreme Masters competition:

Qualify for the Intel Extreme Masters III in CS 1.6

Furthermore all American players can play in four Counter-Strike 1.6 Qualification Cups for the third season of the Intel Extreme Masters. The four best teams of each cup will receive a spot for the Intel Extreme Masters III Main Round of America. These teams will have the chance to win the unbelievable prize money of 750,000USD! The first Qualification Cup will start at 27th July. Don't miss this unique chance!

Qualify for the Intel Extreme Masters III in WoW

The qualification will start with our own online tournament server and a four weeks-long ladder-period. There will be no cap for participating teams at this point.

To take part in this ladder-competition you will have to apply for a slot via e-mail. We will require teams to have a 3on3-rating of at least 2,000 on Blizzard's live-servers and an account on our website. Teams with notable success in other online- or offline-tournaments may apply even without said rating.

After the first, second and third week of ladder-play we will invite the eight best ranked teams to a single-elimination tournament The two teams to win these small tournaments will automatically qualify for the main round.

The ladder will come to an end after four weeks and the top 26 will be invited to participate in the main round together with the six cup-winners.

Sources: HERE, HERE, and the ESL America Page